Pottery
All you need to know about the acient art
Pottery is made up of ceramic materials and encompasses major types of
pottery wares such as earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. To be
considered pottery, a piece must be a fired ceramic ware that contains
clay when formed.
To create a piece of pottery, the potter must
form a ceramic/clay body into a specific object, whether by hand built
or wheel thrown techniques, and then heat it at a high temperature in a
kiln to remove water from the clay. This allows for changes in the
molded object, increasing its strength and durability while permanently
setting its shape.
Main types
Earthenware
The earliest forms of pottery were made from clays that were fired at
low temperatures, initially in pit-fires or in open bonfires. They
were hand formed and undecorated.Earthenware can be fired as low as
600 °C, and is normally fired below 1200 °C.[8] Because unglazed
biscuit earthenware is porous, it has limited utility for the storage
of liquids or as tableware. However, earthenware has had a continuous
history from the Neolithic period to today. It can be made from a wide
variety of clays, some of which fire to a buff, brown or black colour,
with iron in the constituent minerals resulting in a reddish-brown.
Reddish coloured varieties are called terracotta, especially when
unglazed or used for sculpture. The development of ceramic glaze made
impermeable pottery possible, improving the popularity and
practicality of pottery vessels. The addition of decoration has
evolved throughout its history.
Stoneware
Stoneware is pottery that has been fired in a kiln at a relatively
high temperature, from about 1,100 °C to 1,200 °C, and is stronger and
non-porous to liquids.[9] The Chinese, who developed stoneware very
early on, classify this together with porcelain as high-fired wares.
In contrast, stoneware could only be produced in Europe from the late
Middle Ages, as European kilns were less efficient, and the right type
of clay less common. It remained a speciality of Germany until the
Renaissance.[10] Stoneware is very tough and practical, and much of it
has always been utilitarian, for the kitchen or storage rather than
the table. But "fine" stoneware has been important in China, Japan and
the West, and continues to be made. Many utilitarian types have also
come to be appreciated as art.
Porcelain
Porcelain is made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in
a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600
°F). This is higher than used for the other types, and achieving these
temperatures was a long struggle, as well as realizing what materials
were needed. The toughness, strength and translucence of porcelain,
relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification
and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high
temperatures.