THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

ESSAY

By Susan P. Harris
 THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

The process of making pottery begins with clay. Obtaining the clay is the first step in

the process. A potter can buy clay from a craft store, but to make larger pieces, potters

purchase clay that is suitable for firing in a kiln from a pottery supplier. It comes

packaged and ready to use, with no impurities, and no air bubbles in it. A few potters

go out and dig their clay from a riverbank and then process it to make it suitable for use.

That requires a tremendous amount of labor and equipment specially designed for

processing clay to be useable. Thank goodness clay can be purchased today with all

the impurities removed and ready to use.

After the clay is obtained, the potter may knead it, just like a baker making bread,

working the clay with his or her hands, slaps it, and shapes it. When the clay is ready,

the next step in the process is centering the clay on the wheel. The potter places the

clay onto the wheel but, before it can be formed, it must be centered.

In earlier times, a potter’s wheel may have consisted of two stone disks. On the bottom

was a huge circular stone which weighed between 400 and 500 pounds. The potter

would move this lower stone with his foot or leg. The larger lower stone was connected

by a wooden shaft to an upper stone which became the table where he worked. The

upper stone was about half the size of the lower stone, approximately 24 inches in

diameter. After preparing the clay, the potter began to move the lower wheel which

turned the upper wheel.

controlled with a foot pedal. The potter starts turning the wheel and then they form a

boundary around the clay with their hands on the side and the top of the clay. The

potter uses the strength of their body to make the clay conform to their hands. This

process is known as “centering” the clay. If a potter tries to shape a vessel before it is

centered, one side will be too thick and the other side will be too thin.

After the clay is centered on the wheel, then comes shaping the clay. This is when the

potter begins to bring some meaning to this lump of clay on the wheel. The clay is

shaped and molded into something beautiful, a useful vessel. The potter shapes the

clay by applying pressure; and the potter’s hands move in an upward direction. Then

the potter takes his fingers and forces them down into the center of the clay to make an

opening. After all, if there is not an opening, the finished vessel would not be able to

hold anything. It would not be able to be filled nor would it be able to pour out its

contents. The bigger the opening, the bigger the vessel, the more it can hold and the

more it can pour out.

The potter’s hands remain on the clay as it turns on the wheel. Occasionally the potter

will reach with one hand and apply water to the clay. As the potter works with the clay,

the vessel becomes taller. The clay is pressed on the inside and outside with the tips of

the fingers and slowly moved upward. A cylinder begins to form and this vessel is no
longer just a ball of clay. It has an opening. Every piece of pottery made on the wheel

begins with a cylinder. After you master a cylinder, you can make many other things.

After the potter centers the clay and makes an opening in it, they can shape the vessel

into a planned shape, or work with the shape until the potter is satisfied with it.

Sometimes, when the potter first prepares the clay, they may already have an image or

an idea of the finished product in their head. Other times, they let the clay speak to

them as they work.

Pottery can be formed into vessels of many shapes - from mugs and small bowls to

large bowls, cups or bowls to hold things, cups or bowls to be filled, and to be emptied

as well. The potter can make special pieces for decorative purposes as well as

common, utilitarian vessels.

Some potters make hand-built pottery, without the use of a pottery wheel. Using this

method, clay can be rolled out, again like a piece of dough, cut and shaped, or molded

over a form. Hand-building pottery is an art all to itself.

After the clay is shaped on the wheel, or by means of molding, it may look like a vessel;

but it is still not ready for its intended purpose. There is still more work to do. First, it

needs to be trimmed and smoothed to remove the rough edges.

can take a day, a week, or longer. All moisture must be dried to prevent cracking and

breakage. Any moisture trapped inside the vessel will become steam and can cause

the vessel to explode in the kiln during the next phase, the firing process. Firing makes

the vessel strong. When the clay is heated it becomes harder and stronger.

Until it goes through firing in a kiln, the vessel may be attractive; but it is not useful.

When pottery is placed in the kiln the first firing, the temperature in the kiln gets up to

approximately 1950 degrees; and the second firing reaches approximately 2192

degrees.

When the hardened clay comes out of the kiln after the first firing, it is time for the final

step in the process. That is when the outward appearance is changed by adding color

or decoration to the vessel. Glazes come in an array of colors and they can be painted

on with a brush or the vessel may be dipped into a large container of glaze. The color

of the glaze may look nothing like the finished product; but after it is fired for the second

time, the vessel is complete and ready to be used.

Pottery has been used throughout the ages and there are references in the Bible to

pottery and potters. In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote about heavenly treasure that is

concealed in a jar of clay. In ancient times, it was customary to conceal treasure in

clay jars, which had little value or beauty, and did not attract attention to themselves or

their content. The Dead Sea Scrolls were purportedly hidden in jars of clay for

thousands of years. As the story goes, in 1947, a shepherd left his flock of sheep and
goats to search for a stray. Amid the crumbling limestone cliffs that line the

northwestern rim of the Dead Sea, he found a cave in the crevice of a steep rocky

hillside. Intrigued, he cast a stone into the dark interior, only to be startled by the sound

of breaking pots. This sound echoed around the world. For he had stumbled on the

greatest find of the century, the Dead Sea Scrolls. Upon entering the cave, the young

Bedouin found a mysterious collection of large clay jars. The majority were empty and

upon examining the remaining few, he found that the jars were intact, with lids still in

place. However, a closer look revealed nothing but old scrolls, some wrapped in linen

and blackened with age. Ultimately, the scrolls were identified as Hebrew manuscripts,

one thousand years older than any existing biblical text.

Very few pieces of early pottery survived intact. Most people see no value in broken

pottery; but archeologists often find pieces of pottery, or shards, as they investigate

former cities and villages. In that instance, even small pieces of broken pottery have

important stories to tell. In ancient times, business transactions were written on broken

pieces of pottery. In Colonial America, pottery shards will often provide information

about how the early colonists lived.

Even today, broken pottery can be useful. The broken pieces can be re-purposed to

create beautiful mosaic designs. Some people see beauty even in broken or chipped

pieces of pottery.
We can learn a lot from pottery. If you have a chipped piece of pottery – a cup or a

bowl – look upon it with a new eye. See the beauty and the usefulness of the piece.

Just like clay jars and vessels, we are fragile. We may crack and break; but we are still

useful for one purpose or another, even in our chipped or broken state.