Ceramic Vocabulary
Making small scratches in the surfaces of two clay pieces in order to attach them together?
What is scoring?
This is a method in which the clay is shaped by inserting the thumb of one hand into the clay and lightly squeezing with the thumb and fingers while slowly rotating the ball in the palm of the other hand.
What is Pinching technique?
This tool is used to cut chunks from a large piece of clay.
What is a cutting wire?
This is the stage where clay has been fired once in the kiln.
What is Bisqueware?
A specialized oven or furnace used for industrial processes such as firing clay for pottery or bricks.
What is a Kiln?
This form of clay acts as a "glue" to connect pieces of pottery together while hand building.
What is slip?
This is the technique of building ceramic forms by rolling out ropes of clay and joining them together with scoring and slipping.
What is Coil Building techniques
This tool is used to carve fine lines and to score clay.
What is a needle tool?
Clay that is dry and ready to be fired. Very fragile. Also called green ware.
What is bone dry clay?
This tool is used to roll out slabs of clay.
What is a rolling pin?
A method of kneading clay to get rid of any air bubbles.
What is wedging?
A pottery technique in which a form is built up by joining shapes cut from thick sheets of damp clay.
What is Slab building technique?
This tool is used to keep your hands moist while working with clay. It can be used to wet down the clay.
What is a sponge?
The stage where you can easily mold and model clay.
What is plastic?
This is an army of clay figures for the first Emperor of China. He wanted his army to guard and protect his tomb.
What are terracotta Warriors?
A glass-like surface coating for ceramics that is used to decorate and seal the pores of the fired clay.
What is a glaze?
Applying a dark colored glaze, then wiping back the color to accent the textured surface.
What is antiquing
This tool is used to carve, remove, and shape clay.
What is a loop tool?
Clay that is somewhat dry. Good for carving.
What is leather hard clay?
This is clay that dries naturally with air.
What is air dry clay?
This is the process of heating the pottery to a specific temperature in order to bring about a particular change in the clay or the surface.
What is firing?
This tool is used to model or smooth your clay into a shape.
What is a rib tool?
Clay that has been fired again with a glaze.
What is Glazeware?
A portable turn table for rotating pottery being formed, decorated, or otherwise worked.
What is a banding wheel?