Pottery Glossary: 24 Terms Explained
The words that show up in pottery specs, reviews and how-to guides, explained without jargon. Open any term for the full explanation and what to look for when buying.
- Banding wheel
- A hand spun turntable, not motorized, used for decorating, trimming details, and evenly viewing a pot from every angle while hand building.
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- Bat
- A removable, flat board that attaches to a pottery wheel head so a thrown piece can be lifted away without touching or distorting it.
- Read more about batRelated: Best Pottery Wheel Bats
- Bisque firing
- The first kiln firing, which turns dry unfired clay into a hard, porous ceramic material ready to accept glaze.
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- Bone dry
- Clay that has released essentially all of its physical moisture, extremely fragile, and the state a piece must reach before its first firing.
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- Centering
- Forcing a lump of clay into a perfectly balanced, wobble free mound in the middle of a spinning wheel head.
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- Crazing
- A network of fine, hairline cracks in a fired glaze surface, caused by the glaze and clay body cooling and contracting at different rates.
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- Earthenware
- A low fire clay body that stays porous even after firing, typically matured around cone 06 to cone 04.
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- Glaze firing
- The second, typically hotter firing that melts a glaze coating into a smooth, glassy, waterproof surface on bisque ware.
- Read more about glaze firingRelated: Best Pottery Glazes: Reliable Cone 5-6 and Low Fire Favorites
- Greenware
- Any unfired clay piece, from freshly thrown and wet through leather hard and bone dry, before it goes into the kiln for the first time.
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- Kiln shelf
- A flat, heat resistant slab, usually kiln furniture brick or a dense ceramic composite, that pots sit on inside the kiln during firing.
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- Kiln wash
- A protective coating, usually a kaolin and silica mix, applied to kiln shelves to keep dripped glaze from fusing to them.
- Read more about kiln washRelated: Best Kiln Wash to Protect Shelves from Glaze Drips
- Leather hard
- Clay that has dried enough to hold its shape firmly but is still cool and damp to the touch, the ideal stage for trimming.
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- Porcelain
- A fine, white firing clay body, often capable of translucency at high temperatures, known for being demanding to throw.
- Read more about porcelainRelated: Best Porcelain Clay
- Pyrometric cone
- A small ceramic cone formulated to bend at a known amount of accumulated heat, used to measure a kiln firing's actual heat work.
- Read more about pyrometric coneRelated: Best Pyrometric Cones for Accurate, Repeatable Kiln Firings
- Slab
- A flat sheet of clay, rolled to an even thickness, used as the building block for hand built plates, boxes, tiles, and angular forms.
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- Slip
- Clay thinned with water to a smooth, pourable or paintable consistency, used for joining pieces, casting, and surface decoration.
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- Splash pan
- A removable basin or tray that fits around the base of a pottery wheel head, catching thrown water, slip, and clay before it hits the floor.
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- Stoneware
- A dense, durable clay body fired hot enough to vitrify, commonly matured in the cone 5 to cone 10 range.
- Read more about stonewareRelated: Best Stoneware Clay
- Terracotta
- A reddish brown, iron rich low fire clay, one of the most common types of earthenware, traditionally used for pots, tiles, and sculpture.
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- Throwing
- Forming a pot on a spinning pottery wheel by centering a lump of clay and pulling it upward and outward into a hollow shape.
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- Trimming
- Carving away excess clay from a leather hard pot on the wheel to refine its walls, shape a foot ring, and clean up its form.
- Read more about trimmingRelated: Best Trimming Tools for Pottery: Top Picks for Clean Foot Rings
- Underglaze
- A colored decorating slip applied to greenware or bisque ware before a clear or semi transparent glaze is fired over it.
- Read more about underglazeRelated: Best Underglazes: Vivid, Stable Color for Every Firing Range
- Wax resist
- A wax coating brushed onto bisque ware to keep glaze off specific areas, most often a pot's foot or a decorative pattern.
- Read more about wax resistRelated: Best Wax Resist for Pottery: Clean Lines and Dry Feet Every Time
- Wedging
- Kneading raw clay by hand before throwing or hand building to remove trapped air and even out its moisture and stiffness.
- Read more about wedgingRelated: Best Wedging Boards