Potter's wheel
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In
and beating.A potter's wheel may occasionally be referred to as a "potter's lathe". However, that term is better used for another kind of machine that is used for a different shaping process, turning, similar to that used for shaping of metal and wooden articles. The pottery wheel is an important component to create arts and craft products.[1]
The techniques of jiggering and jolleying can be seen as extensions of the potter's wheel: in jiggering, a shaped tool is slowly brought down onto the plastic clay body that has been placed on top of the rotating plaster mould. The jigger tool shapes one face, the mould the other. The term is specific to the shaping of flat ware, such as plates, whilst a similar technique, jolleying, refers to the production of hollow ware, such as cups.
History
Before discussions involving the Potter’s Wheel starts there is need to acknowledge the techniques used before the Potters wheel. Prior to using a wheel all of these civilizations used techniques such as pinching, coiling, paddling, and shaping to create ceramic forms. In addition, several of these crafts can continue to be used while on the wheel to create more rounded or symmetrical shapes.
Most early ceramic ware was hand-built using a simple coiling technique in which clay was rolled into long threads that were then pinched and smoothed together to form the body of a vessel. In the coiling method of construction, all the energy required to form the main part of a piece is supplied indirectly by the hands of the potter. Early ceramics built by coiling were often placed on mats or large leaves to allow them to be worked more conveniently. The evidence of this lies in mat or leaf impressions left in the clay of the base of the pot. This arrangement allowed the potter to rotate the vessel during construction, rather than walk around it to add coils of clay.
The oldest forms of the potter's wheel (called tourneys or slow wheels) were probably developed as an extension to this procedure. Tournettes, in use around 3500 BC in the Near East, were turned slowly by hand or by foot while coiling a pot. Only a small range of vessels were fashioned on the tournette, suggesting that it was used by a limited number of potters.[2] The introduction of the slow wheel increased the efficiency of hand-powered pottery production.
In the mid to late 3rd millennium BC the fast wheel was developed, which operated on the
Many modern scholars suggest that the first potter's wheel was first developed by the ancient
In the Iron Age, the potter's wheel in common use had a turning platform about one metre (3 feet) over the floor, connected by a long axle to a heavy flywheel at ground level. This arrangement allowed the potter to keep the turning wheel rotating by kicking the flywheel with the foot, leaving both hands free for manipulating the vessel under construction. However, from an ergonomic standpoint, sweeping the foot from side to side against the spinning hub is rather awkward. At some point[when?], an alternative solution was invented that involved a crankshaft with a lever that converted up-and-down motion into rotary motion.
In Japan the potter's wheel first showed by in the Asuka or Sueki period (552–710 CE) where wares were more sophisticated and complicated. In addition to the new technology of the wheel, firing was also changed to a much higher temperature in a rudimentary kiln. The industrialization continued through the Nara period (710–794) and into the Heian, or Fujiwara, period (794–1185). With higher temperature firings, new glazes followed (green, yellowish brown, and white), in addition new styles and techniques of glazing emerged. [8]
Ceramic wares that emerged from China were processed with a very similar beginning as Japan. The history of Chinese pottery began in the Neolithic era about 4300 BC down to 2000 BC. Unlike Japan, which focused on production of everyday wares, China created mostly decorative pieces with few opportunities for industrialization and production of ceramic wares. Because China focused on decorative wares, most of their pottery was centered around porcelain instead of earthen wares seem almost everywhere else, and they used the potter's wheel for the development of porcelain clay culture. Porcelain took off during the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when the iconic blue and white porcelain ceramics emerged. Several places in China mix traditional elements and methods with modern design and technologies. [9]
Native Americans have been creating ceramics by hand and in more modern eras started incorporating a wheel into their work. Pottery can be identified in the Southwest of North American dating back to 150 CE and has been an important part of Native American culture for over 2,000 years. [10] Historically Native Americans have been using the coiling method to achieve their decorative and functional pieces, and the technology to create an electric wheel did not show up until the arrival of Europeans. However, smaller turntables or slow wheels could have been used occasionally. [11] Nowadays the wheel is used to speed up the process of Native American pottery, while still retaining the cultural ties and the symbolism.
The use of the motor-driven wheel has become common in modern times, particularly with craft potters and educational institutions, although human-powered ones are still in use and are preferred by some studio potters.
Industrialization
Social consequences that can arrive of these technological advancements include increased economic advancements in the sales of pottery created using the potter’s wheel and industrialization of the ceramics processes. The potter’s wheel greatly increased the production rate of ceramics, which allowed for more products to be created. In Japan, pottery took on a functional role as ceramics became a material for bowls and pots that were priced very reasonably. However, with the industrialization of ceramics in Japan, ceramics also lost some of its historical value, and some techniques and meanings of the ceramics were lost in the process.[12]
The Native Americans made sure to utilize the ceramic wheel in such a way that their historical culture and meaning behind the ceramics were not lost. Only using the wheel to lessen the burden of hours and hours of work put behind these pieces.[13]
Techniques of throwing
A skilled potter can quickly throw a vessel from up to 15 kg (30 lb) of clay.
The potter's wheel in myth and legend
In Ancient Egyptian mythology, the deity Khnum was said to have formed the first humans on a potter's wheel.
References
- ^ Sophia, Sophia. "Best Pottery Wheel". Best Crafter Studio. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- S2CID 162097444.
- ISBN 0-226-45238-7.
- ^ ISBN 9781575060422.
- OCLC 223302267.
- ^ "萧山日报-数字报纸". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07.
- ^ Hamer, Frank; Hamer, Janet (2004). The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques. p. 383.
- ^ "Japanese pottery | History, Styles & Techniques | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
- ^ "A Potted History of Chinese Ceramics". www.thechinaguide.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ "The History and Significance of Southwestern Native American Pottery". Garland. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ "Pottery - Native American, Clay, Art | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ISSN 0023-6055.
- ^ "The History and Significance of Southwestern Native American Pottery". Garland. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ "Isaac Button – Country Potter (1965)". Film & TV Database. BFI. Archived from the original on 2008-09-12.
External links
- Pottery (video on Internet Archive)
- Master potter Kim Se-yong throwing a double-wall vase using a traditional kick-wheel (video on YouTube)
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