Introduction to pottery and clay

A short history of pottery

Pottery has been made all over the world.  Pottery is made from clay baked to a temperature high enough to convert the clay permanently and irreversibly to a more or less durable form. 

Perhaps it was discovered by early people smearing baskets with river mud to try to contain gathered grain.  If these baskets were tossed into a cooking fire, some of them would have become baked hard.

The earliest Chinese pottery is dated to the 18th to the 16th century B.C.
It is called earthenware, obviously durable but often porous. 

Types of clay

Stoneware is made of clay fired to temperatures between 1200 and 1300 degrees Celsius and even without glaze, it is waterproof.

Porcelain is made from a mixture of china clay (kaolin) and china stone (petuntse) and fired to 1260 degrees upwards.

China (or bone china) is made of a mixture of calcined ox bones and china clay, glazed and fired to about 1140 degrees.

Sidney’s work

Sidney makes wheel thrown stoneware pottery fired in her electric kiln and then glazed for decorative effect in her gas kiln. She is able to produce a wide range of colours by controlling the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen passing through the kiln.  She fires to about 1280 degrees Celsius.

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