Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and
punctuation remains unchanged.
Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold=.
HOW TO MAKE POTTERY
OTHER BOOKS BY
MARY WHITE
[monogram]
HOW TO DO BEADWORK
HOW TO MAKE BASKETS
MORE BASKETS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM
[Illustration: NEWCOMB POTTERY JUG]
How to Make Pottery
_By_
MARY WHITE
_Illustrated by the Author_
[Illustration: Publisher’s device]
NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1904
COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
PUBLISHED, OCTOBER, 1904
Acknowledgment is hereby made to the Bureau of American Ethnology for
permitting the use of the illustrations reproduced in Chapter XI.
To My Husband
PREFACE
An art like pottery-making, which is nearly as old as the human race,
is naturally approached with some degree of reverence. One thinks of
its old masters in various lands and ages—how they were content to
spend a lifetime in the study and practice of it.
There is, however, another thought that comes to mind—that this art,
like every other, had to have its beginning. Moreover, every potter,
from the primitive man who first realised that clay which held water
could be moulded into portable vessels for a like purpose, to the
artist potter of to-day, has learned the first steps of the craft.
It was this thought that encouraged me to study the beginnings of
pottery, and that leads me to offer this book to those who would also
start clay-working, with no other qualification than the wish to learn
how to make pottery.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Clays and Tools 3
II. Hand-made Pottery 15
III. Working on the Wheel 27
IV. Methods of Decoration 41
V. The Glaze and How to Apply It 55
VI. Pottery for Beauty and Use 67
VII. How to Make a Plaster Mould 91
VIII. The Making of a Tile 103
IX. The Kiln 113
X. Basket-Covered Pottery 125
XI. Indian Pottery 149
XII. Modern American Pottery 167
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Newcomb Pottery Jug _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
Building a Piece of Pottery:
1. Making the First Coil. 2. Testing the
Outline. 3. Continuing the Piece 18
Working on the Wheel:
1. A pale-green bowl for flowers. 2. A cream-jug.
3. A flower-jar with two handles. 4. A
nasturtium bowl 38
Methods of Decoration:
1. A large fruit-bowl. 2 and 3. Low dishes
for candy. 4. A lamp-bowl 38
Where Use and Beauty are Combined 68
Pottery for Beauty and Use:
1. Rose-bowl. 2. A low Dutch dish. 3. Fruit-bowl 80
How to Make a Plaster Mould:
1. A plaster mould. 2. A rose-bowl 80
Pottery for Beauty and Use:
1. Lamp-bowl. 2. Candlestick. 3. Wall-jar
for water-plants. 4. A flower candlestick 80
The Making of a Tile 108
Basket-covered Pottery 126
Indian Pottery 156
Indian Pottery 162
Teco Ware 172
Some Pieces of Volkmar Pottery 176
A Piece of Newcomb Pottery 178
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURES PAGE
1 10
2 10
3 10
4 10
5 10
6 11
7 11
8 12
9 17
10 27
11 29
12 33
13 33
14 34
15 35
16 35
17 39
18 39
19 39
20 45
21 46
22 49
23 49
24 50
25 70
26 72
27 73
28 77
29 79
30 80
31 84
32 84
33 94
34 96
35 99
36 104
37 104
38 106
39 106
40 107
41 107
42 109
43 109
44 115
45 116
46 120
47 127
48 133
49 138
50 141
51 142
52 144
53 150
54 150
55 151
56 151
57 152
58 153
59 154
60 155
61 156
62 157
63 160
64 161
65 162
66 171
67 171
68 179
The Clays and Tools
HOW TO MAKE POTTERY
CHAPTER I
THE CLAYS AND TOOLS
Clay is what might be called the drift of the rocks of ages past.
Most stone consists mainly of silica and alumina. In some bygone age,
the potash and other alkalies, under the action of heat, fused these
materials into rock. Potash is affected by the atmosphere, so it
gradually left the rock, which decomposed, and the many particles, the
fine refuse, after various changes became clay. Perfectly pure clay,
or hydrated silicate of alumina, is found where some granites and
other felspar-bearing rocks have decomposed. In the course of years,
the clays, especially those on the surface, gathered impurities. Black
clay, for example, which is found at the top of the bed, contains a
large per cent. of carbon, formed by decayed leaves and twigs—like
coal or peat. Strange to say, this burns whiter than any other pottery
clay. It contains more potash than the other clays, and fires at a
lower heat. The different proportions in which certain minerals are
found in clays determine their plastic or non-plastic, fusible or
refractory character. Potters have not been able to agree as to the
reason for the plasticity of clay. Some believe that the silica gives
it plasticity; others that it is due to the water inherent in the clay
(which is called the water of combination), and give as their reason
for the belief the fact that burned clay loses its plasticity, never to
get it again. Yet water alone does not make every clay plastic: other
ingredients are sometimes necessary. The early potter used the clay
just as it came from the ground, but when he began to bake it in the
fire he found that tempering materials were necessary. Sand was often
added to make it easier to handle, and coarse, sharp pieces of shell
or rock helped to prevent the clay from cracking, by lessening the
shrinkage.
Later, as the art advanced, the value of certain materials in
regulating the fusible and refractory qualities of the natural clay
were recognised. There is in clays the play of melting and non-melting
substances. Flint and alumina are hard, and uphold the clay in the
fierce fire of the kiln; potash and soda make it soft and fusible.
It is believed that the value of ground flint in pottery was not
discovered until late in the seventeenth century. The story is that a
certain potter travelling on horseback was delayed on account of an
inflammation of his horse’s eyes. An ostler, wishing to help him out
of his difficulty, took a flint from the road, and, after putting it
in the fire until it was red-hot, threw it into cold water. It broke
into pieces, pure white, which were easily powdered and applied to the
animal’s eyes. Delighted as the potter was with the cure of his horse,
the discovery of a white, infusible material for his pottery pleased
him still more.
The combination of iron and lime in a clay forms a natural flux. For
example: Fire-clay, which is quite refractory but which contains a
small per cent. of iron, will, by the addition of a proportion of
whiting (lime), become more fusible. Iron and lime in larger quantities
are found in the clay which is made into red ware—flower-pots, red
bricks, and other common articles. The large per cent. of iron gives it
its red colour. It does not make as strong a ware as other clays. This
red ware, which fires at the lowest heat, we will classify as Group I.
To Group II. belongs the yellow or Rockingham ware. This fires at a
light-orange heat, from 1,800 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is often
finished with a dark-brown glaze. Mixing-bowls and other kitchen ware
come under this group. Group III. contains the buff or cream ware,
usually made of fire-clays. This hardens at an intense heat, from 2,200
to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. In this group is the fine pottery. Art
pottery comes under this head. Group IV. is the buff or cream ware,
fired at white heat and beyond. This is the stoneware. On account of
the great heat at which it is fired, it is possible to use only certain
colours in the glazes. They are limited to gray, brown, green and
blue. Ox-blood has been obtained in this ware, but it is uncertain.
Claret-and vinegar-jugs and butter-crocks come in this group. Group
V. is the white or tableware, and Group VI. the translucent ware or
porcelain, made of kaolin, the purest grade of clay. Felspar makes
it meltable and translucent, and, to give it plasticity, a small
proportion of ball or fire-clay is added.
Pottery clay differs from modelling clay in that it has more
stiffening, so to speak. It is not so plastic, but, on the other hand,
it will stand the heat of the kiln, which the other will not. The
addition of whiting or felspar to modelling clay will give the needed
stiffness. A pottery clay suitable for the work one can produce in
one’s kiln must be so arranged as to harden at the degree of heat at
which the kiln fires. Practically, we shall have little to do with any
but the blue or ball clay and fire-clay. These are the best for pottery
which is to be beautiful as well as useful. It is possible, of course,
to use the flower-pot clay, and, perhaps, if one can easily obtain this
clay, and is near enough to a pottery where the red ware is fired—so
that one’s pieces can conveniently be sent there—it might be wiser to
use it than to buy finer clays that come from a great distance, and
then be obliged to send one’s pottery to a far-away kiln for firing.
The flower-pot ware is not strong, however, and fine glazes cannot be
used upon it, so that, if possible, clay that will fire at a greater
heat should be chosen. A mixture of fire-clay and ball or blue clay
will give good results, and the pieces made with it may be sent to the
nearest art pottery or to a kiln where stoneware is fired. Having once
found a good clay, potters rarely change. In fact, this feeling is so
strong with some that it amounts almost to a superstition. A potter
who has obtained a clay that is satisfactory in a certain State will
always send to the same State and bed for that clay, no matter how far
he may be from it, nor how nearly the clay in his own State may come to
the analysis of that which he has used.
The clay is, of course, brought from the clay beds in caked masses. It
should be kept out of doors, for the wind and weather are good for it.
In preparing it, the great lumps are pounded up fine and put through a
sieve in which there are thirty to forty meshes to the inch. It is now
ready for soaking. A common mistake is to pour water upon the clay in
its rock state and then employ a boy or spend one’s own time kneading
it into condition. The more simple and practical process is to sift it
as already described, and then add the powdered clay to the water. In
this way, each particle is wet at once, and in much less time the clay
is ready for use. If it proves that too much water has been provided,
pour off some after the clay is well mixed, and, if it is still too
moist, spread it upon plaster slabs in the air; which will soon dry it
sufficiently—the plaster itself absorbing much of the surplus moisture.
It is often possible, at slight expense, to obtain the clay already
sieved and mixed from a pottery, and this is, of course, an advantage.
Keep your clay in a large earthern crock in which a little water has
first been poured. Make deep holes with the thumb and pour water into
them. Cover with a damp cloth and then with the earthen top. When
the clay dries out so much that it is difficult to mould, let it dry
thoroughly and pound it to a powder on a strong bench or table with an
old flat-iron. It may then be re-mixed, as already described.
When ready to begin work, take a good-sized lump of clay, say about
ten pounds; pound and knead it upon a table. Then draw a strong wire
through it at the middle, dividing it in halves. Press the two outer
surfaces together, kneading out the air-holes, which will be found
on the inner surfaces. This process repeated a number of times will
finally expel all the air-bubbles and leave the clay in good condition
for moulding. Clay that is to be used on the wheel will need to be much
more thoroughly kneaded than that for hand-moulded or built pottery.
_Tools_
[Illustration: FIG. 1 to 4. Boxwood modelling tools]
Boxwood modelling tools are useful for the hand-moulded pottery and for
decoration. One pointed tool, like a sharpened pencil (see Fig.
1), and another double-ended one, with points that are more flattened
and rounded (see Fig. 2), will be enough to start with. One should
also have a double-ended steel tool with pointed knife-ends (see
Fig. 3), for incising and other decorative work. A steel tool with
narrow, flattened ends (see Fig. 4) is necessary for cutting away the
background to leave the design in low relief.
[Illustration: FIG. 6]
[Illustration: FIG. 5]
[Illustration: FIG. 7]
The tools for use with the potter’s wheel are mostly of thin steel,
and may easily be cut from a sheet of steel which one can buy of a
dealer in hardware. There should be an oval shape, two and a quarter
by four inches, and another of the same size and shape with the edges
cut in saw-teeth (see Fig. 5). There should also be a tool with one
straight side and the other curved (see Fig. 6), and a rectangular one
about two by four inches. A hoe-shaped tool of steel (see Fig. 7) is
indispensable for working on the wheel, as is a slender point of steel,
an inch and a quarter long, set in a wooden handle (see Fig. 8), and a
piece of stout wire. A rubber polisher, the size and shape of the oval
tool of sheet steel, will also be found useful. These may be bought of
dealers in potters’ tools. A sponge, a ground-glass slab about a foot
square, a rolling-pin, and sandpaper are also essential.
[Illustration: FIG. 8]
Round and square slabs of plaster of paris should be provided upon
which to put the pieces of pottery while they are being formed. These
may be bought or cast in moulds, according to the directions in Chapter
VII.
Hand-made Pottery