CERAMICS VOCABULARY

Bisque ware: Unglazed pottery which has been fired once.

Bone dry: The state of clay after it has lost all of its moisture and is ready to be fired.

Coiling: A hand building technique in which rolls of clay are made by using the palms of the hands to form round snake
like shapes.

Compress: The process of compacting the platelets of a slab of clay together from each direction to insure that there
are no cracks when the piece dries and is fired.

Centering: The act of forcing a lump of clay by hand into the center of a potter’s wheel in preparation for throwing
pottery.

Finishing: An extremely important part of the hand building process when the clay is leather hard when pits are filled
and the surface is smoothed.

Firing: Heating pottery or sculpture in a kiln to bring the clay to its maturity.

Foot: The base of a piece of pottery.

Glaze: Pottery material made from finely ground minerals which when fired, melt onto the surface of the clay. They can
have a shiny or matte finish.

Greenware: Bone dry pottery that is still very fragile and is ready to be fired.

Grog: A ceramic material, usually clay that has been fired to a high temperature before use. Usually added to clay to
lessen warping and increase resistance to thermal shock.

Kiln: An oven built to fire ceramic pottery or sculpture.

Leather-hard: The state of clay when shrinkage has ended, but not all of the moisture has evaporated. Clay can still
be scored and slipped during this stage.

Scoring: The process of crosshatching texture on clay to rough up the surface for a better bond between two pieces of
clay.

Three Dimensional (3D): Having the dimension of depth as well as height and width; an object that can be viewed
from all sides.

Shivering: When glaze will not adhere to a bisque ware, usually caused by over-sponging or in some cases
not enough feldspar in the glaze.

Sprig: Attaching cut out shapes and built shapes to the surface of a piece by the scoring and slipping method.

Slip: A creamy mixture of clay and water used to join pieces of clay together, acting as glue.

Sgraffito: Scratching designs

through a colored slip/underglaze to reveal leather hard clay beneath.

Bats: rough surfaced boards used to work on and to which clay will not stick as easily.

Needle tool: Long skinny stainless steel pin like tool used to cut clay.
Plastic sheeting: used to retain moisture during the building process.

Banding wheel: turn table operated by hand used for decorating.

Rib Tool: wood, metal or rubber, made in a variety of shapes and used for compressing or shaping clay.

Extruder: A stainless steel, wall mounted device that hold up to 8 pounds of clay, which is forced out through die cut
shapes. The extruded shapes can be recombined to produce ceramic pieces.

Incising: cutting a design into the surface of leather hard clay.

Wedging: Kneading of clay to expel air bubbles and remove lumps.

Terra Cotta: A low fire, porous, reddish clay body frequently containing grog.

Vitreous: Glassy.

Plasticity: The ability of a damp clay body to yield under pressure without cracking and to retain the formed shape
after pressure is released.