Pottery Vocabulary
Clay Bisqueware – unglazed clay which has been fired once.
Clay - a fine grained natural material containing silicates and other
minerals which hardens when heated.
Contaminated - the state of being impure in mixture. With clay, a main
contaminant is plaster. With glaze, a main contaminant is another
glaze or clay.
Earthenware - a particular recipe for a clay body meant to be fired at a low
temperature (cone 05 – 06). Terra cotta is an example of
earthenware, as seen in large planters. Earthenware, which we do not use at MHS, is more
porous than stoneware.
Glazeware – ceramics in its final state. Glaze is applied to bisqueware, then fired.
Greenware - dry, fragile clay before it is bisque fired.
Grog - pulverized bisque added to clay to provide structural stability during
drying and firing.
Mud – recycled clay with a high water content that is put out for wedging.
Leatherhard - clay which is dried enough to be stiff, but still damp enough
to be joined to other clay with slip.
Plastic - clay in a workable, malleable state.
Stoneware – a particular recipe for a clay body meant to be fired at a high
temperature (cone 2 – 10, although we only fire to cone 6).
Stoneware vitrifies and is non-porous after firing. The clay we use for
wheel-throwing and sculpting is white stoneware.
Clay Related Techniques –
Caulk - a worm-like strand of clay added and blended into a joint which has
been previously scored and slipped.
Ceramics - the art of making objects by combining clay, minerals, and heat.
Coil - a snakelike cylindrical length of clay used for forming handbuilt ceramic vessels.
Handbuilding - the forming of ceramic objects without the use of the
potters wheel.
Homogeneous - uniform in structure and composition throughout. With
clay, this is done by wedging; with glazes, by stirring.
Pinch Pot - a small handbuilt bowl made by inserting the thumb in a ball of
clay, rotating and pinching.
Pottery - ware, such as vases, pots, bowls, or plates, formed on the wheel
from moist clay and hardened by heat.
Score and Slip - a technique for joining one leather hard and one plastic, or
two leather hard pieces of clay together. Smooth mud applied to
scratched surfaces from both pieces are joined and sealed.
Sgrafitto – ceramics decorated by scratching, often to reveal another color
underneath.
Slab - a uniformly rolled area of clay used in handbuilding. Slabs often
need to be leather-hard for construction.
Slab Strips – slabs cut into strips used for speeding up coil-building.
Slip - a fluid suspension of clay and water, ranging from a thin consistency
to thick paste. Slip is finely blended mud.
Throw - to make pottery by hand on a wheel.
Wedging - to make clay homogeneous and plastic by kneading.
GlazeFloating Chambray – a beautiful blue gloss overglaze.
Floating Sea Mist – a green gloss overglaze.
Glaze - a coating of finely strained minerals evenly mixed with water applied to
bisqueware before a second firing.
Glaze Layering – Putting a glaze over an already dried glaze to create an interesting
speckled or blended effect. Results often vary.
Underglaze - glaze applied to bisqueware, has a matte finish, then coated
over with a transparent or semi- transparent glaze and refired.
Wax Resist - A liquid into which the bottoms of pots are painted to resist glaze.
Tools & Kiln Related MaterialsBanding Wheel – an aluminum rotating disk on a base that makes sculpting easier.
Bat - a round disk of plastic used for putting under pieces. The 10” bats are used for
handbuilding, the 14” bats are used on the wheel.
Boxwood Tool - an all wood tool used for a variety of clay working purposes.
Canvas – An excellent surface that prevents clay from sticking to a table top.
Element - an exposed metal coil in the kiln wall which radiates heat
necessary to fire clay.
Extruder – the cylinder and handle device that makes coils; the Play-Dough
factory for grown-ups.
Fettling Knife - a clay cutting tool featuring a thin, long blade.
Firing - the process by which clay is heated in a kiln.
Guide Sticks – strips of wood used to keep slab thicknesses even.
Kiln - a brick lined oven used to fire ceramics.
Ladles – large spoons for stirring and applying glaze.
Loop Tool -a tool with a wooden handle and a metal loop at the end
especially useful for trimming clay pots.
Pin Tool - a tool used for lancing air pockets and removing uneven rims on
pots while throwing.
Plastic Squares – Used for covering freshly thrown pieces to delay rim drying.
Pyrometric Cone - a small, slender, ceramic pyramid used for measuring
heat levels in the kiln.
Rib – a tool for scraping and shaping large surface contours of
clay. Serrated ribs are the best tools for scoring.
RInse Bucket - a container used for cleaning excess clay off of hands and
tools prior to fine washing in a sink.
Rolling Pin - the primary tool for rolling slabs of clay.
Serrated Rib – a rib with a jagged edge used for scoring and scraping clay.
Shelf Posts - ceramic supports that hold kiln shelves.
Sponge Stick – used for sopping up excess water at the base a vases.
Stilt - a support that elevates glazed ware from a shelf.
Suspended - the state in which glaze is freshly stirred and homogeneous.
Template – A shape, often made from mat board, used as a guide for cutting slabs.
Throwing Bowl – The bowl that holds water used when throwing and cleaning.
Toggle Wire - a wire with wooden handles used for removing clay stuck to
a surface or trimming uneven rims on pots while throwing.
Tongs - a grasping tool for dipping bisqueware in glaze.
Vitrification – The transformation of clay after it is fired, in which melted silicates solidify.
Wedging Board - a surface, the best being plaster, which acts like a dry sponge, drawing water
away from mud, preparing it for wedging