Pottery Vocabulary Study Guide
Green ware – pottery that has not been fired
Bisque Ware– first firing to harden the clay prior to glazing
Stone ware – clay that has been fired twice, aka glaze firing
Kiln – a furnace for heating clay until its hardened, we fire up to 2000 degrees
Kiln shelf – what the clay pieces sit on in the kiln
Kiln wash – the white coating on the kiln shelves that keep glaze from fusing to the shelves
Stilt – a ceramic tripod with wire points that glaze ware can be placed on when glaze on the bottom
Throwing – forming clay on a potter’s wheel
Centering – forcing the lump of clay on the wheel to not wobble while turning
Bat – cirlcular piece of wood or plastic that you place the clay on for throwing or drying
Hand building – using your hands to create pottery
Leather hard – the condition of the raw clay when most of the moisture is gone, but is still plastic
enough to be carved or joined
Bone dry – completely dry clay, not cold to the touch of your wrist
Casting – creating pottery with a mold, usually for mass production
Mold – a hollow plaster form that you pour slip into to create a figurine
Score and slip – method of attaching two pieces of clay together by scratching the surface of the clay
first in a hashtag pattern and applying liquid clay (clay glue)
Plasticity – the quality of clay that allows it to be manipulated without cracking or sagging
Glaze – a liquid of finely ground minerals that when heated melt together to form a glassy coating on clay
Underglaze – colored decoration applied to greenware or bisque before the glaze coating, not shiny
Wedging – kneading the clay with your hands in a rocking spiral motion to force air bubble out of clay
Pinch – hand building method in which you pinch the clay between your fingers to the right thickness
Coil – a hand building method using rope like rolls of clay
Slab – a hand building method in which forms are created using flat pieces of clay (use a rolling pin)
Modeling – smearing clay with your fingers to the desired form
Lip – the top of the pottery
Foot – the bottom of the pottery