(Mga bulukon nga pinggan nga ara sa sulod ka kabinet nga gina pa guwa lang kung may bisita.

What are ‘ceramics’? Definition.

Ceramic is the name for some materials that are formed by using heat to obtain the
finished form. Ceramic is also known as an important form of plastic art (any art form
that involves modeling or molding in three dimensions). The word ceramic actually
comes from the Greek word κεραμεικός (keramikos [ce.ɾa.miˈkos]) derived from κεραμος
(keramos [ˈce.ra.mos]) meaning ‘pottery’. The main material used to make ceramics used
to be clay but due to new technological processes, the materials used have expanded.
Ceramic art takes many different forms, it may include pottery, tableware, tiles,
figurines, and other sculptures. Ceramics may also be considered artifacts in
archeology.

In visual art, ceramics and pottery are one and the same or have no difference. This is
because the both have the same basic 4-step creative process of forming, firing, glazing
or decorating and lastly refiring.

Types of Art of Ceramics

Earthenware, Stoneware, and Porcelain are the types of ceramics. The difference between the
three is the temperature at which the clay is fired and the type of clay used.
Earthenware
It is the longest-established type of pottery and was the most common type of
pottery/ceramics. Earthenware clay is often made from clay, kaolin, quartz and feldspar. The
clay is fired between 1000-1200 degrees Celsius. Since it is fired at a low temperature, the
resulting earthenware is hard but brittle and is slightly porous hence they are not used to hold
water. To make them waterproof, they need to be coated or glazed and be fired in the kiln
again.
The iron-content in the clay used is what gives color the earthenware. This ranges from buff to
dark red, or even cream, grey or black, depending on the amount present and the atmosphere
in the kiln when firing.
Common examples of earthenware are ancient pottery, terracotta objects, but the greatest
example of fine art earthenware are the series of Chinese warriors also known as the Terracotta
Army.
Stoneware
It is called ‘stoneware’ because of its dense and stone-like quality after being fired and it is
already waterproof, unlike earthenware it does not need to be glazed. Stoneware is fired at a
high temperature 1100-1300 degrees Celsius. The stoneware clay is grey but after firing it, the
color turns light-brown or buff colored. The greyness of its clay is because of the impurities
used to make the clay.
Although stoneware clays are mostly used in the manufacture of commercial ware, there are
artists that prefer to use stoneware clay creating fine art pottery, like Bernard Leach. When
stoneware reached Europe, the English ceramicists began producing a salt-glazed form of
stoneware and in the 18th century Josiah Wedgwood made some enhancements. He created a
black stoneware that he calls ‘basalt’ and as well a white stoneware known as Jasperware.
Stoneware is made from a particular clay which is fired at a higher temperature of
1,200°C. This results in a more durable material, with a denser, stone-like quality. The
finished product will be waterproof and unlike earthenware, does not need to be
glazed.
Called stoneware due to its dense, stone-like character after being fired,
this type is impermeable (waterproof) and usually opaque. In its natural
state stoneware clay is grey but the firing process turns it light-brown or
buff coloured, and different hues may then be applied in the form of
glazes. Generally speaking, stonewares are fired at temperatures between
1100-1300 degrees Celsius.
Stoneware clays are used in the manufacture of commercial ware, but are
also preferred by artists (eg. Bernard Leech et al) creating fine art pottery.
The earliest stoneware was produced during the era of Shang Dynasty art
in China (c.1400 BCE); it first appeared in Europe in Germany (the
Rhineland) in the 15th century. Later in the 17th century, English
ceramicists first began producing a salt-glazed form of stoneware.
Enhancements followed in the 18th century when Josiah Wedgwood
created a black stoneware (basaltes), as well as a white stoneware known
as Jasperware.

Stoneware is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-
[9] [10]
refractory fire clay. Stoneware is fired at high temperatures. Vitrified or not, it is
[11] [12]
nonporous; it may or may not be glazed. One widely recognised definition is from the
Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities, a European industry standard states
"Stoneware, which, though dense, impermeable and hard enough to resist scratching by a
steel point, differs from porcelain because it is more opaque, and normally only partially
vitrified. It may be vitreous or semi-vitreous. It is usually coloured grey or brownish because
of impurities in the clay used for its manufacture, and is normally glazed."

Porcelain
Porcelain and stoneware are frequently being confused with each other by the Chinese
ceramicists. And they define porcelain as: any pottery that gives off a ringing tone when tapped.
While in the West, porcelain is very different from stoneware because of its characteristic
translucent when light is hitting the porcelain. Porcelain clay is fired at a high temperature,
1200-1450 degrees Celsius producing a hard, shiny material.
Porcelain was first found in the era of Han Dynasty art or near the end of the Tang Dynasty art
using kaolin or white clay and ground petuntse. And in the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and
Ming Dynasty art, enhancements were made. In the 16th century, many ceramicists tried to
reproduce the Chinese porcelain but were unsuccessful until the 1700s in Meissen and Dresden
Germany when Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus (ceramicist) and Johann Friedrich Bottger

The distinction between porcelain and stoneware is rather vague. Chinese

ceramicists define porcelain as any pottery item that gives off a ringing tone when
tapped, whereas in the West it is distinguished from stoneware by its
characteristic translucence when held to the light. According to the Combined
Nomenclature of the European Communities, "Stoneware differs from porcelain
because it is more opaque, and normally only partially vitrified."

Chinese porcelain first appeared in China during the era of Han Dynasty art (206
BCE-220 CE), or perhaps later in the era of Tang Dynasty art (618-906), using
kaolin (white china clay) and ground petuntse (a feldspathic rock). However,
enhancements were made during the eras of Song Dynasty art (960-1279) and
Yuan Dynasty art (1271-1368), as well as Ming Dynasty art (1368-1644).
Sixteenth century Florentine ceramicists tried to reproduce its unique translucence
by adding glass to clay (creating a form known as 'soft' porcelain) but the formula
of the true or hard type of Chinese porcelain was not discovered until the 1700s in
Meissen and Dresden, Germany, when ceramicist Ehrenfried Walter von
Tschirnhaus and alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger began using ground
feldspathic rock instead of glass. Later English ceramicists like Josiah Spode
varied the German formula by adding powdered bone ash (a calcium phosphate)
to make bone china - the standard English type of porcelain which is less prone to
chipping and has an ivory-white appearance. The Continent still favours the
German type of porcelain while Bone china is more popular in Britain and the USA.

The colour of unfired porcelain clay can be anything from white to cream, while
bone china clay is white. After firing they are both white. They are typically fired
at temperatures between 1200 to 1450 degrees Celsius, a little higher than
stoneware.

● Porcelain is a ceramic material 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).
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. Properties associated with porcelain
include low permeability and elasticity; considerable strength, hardness,
toughness, whiteness, translucency and resonance; and a high resistance to
chemical attack and thermal shock. Porcelain has been described as being
"completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or artificially
coloured, translucent (except when of considerable thickness), and resonant".
However, the term porcelain lacks a universal definition and has "been applied in a
very unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds which have only certain
[13]
surface-qualities in common".

Porcelain comes from a refined clay which is fired at very high temperatures of
approximately 1,200–1,450°C. The result is an extremely hard, shiny material often
white and translucent in appearance.

The earliest forms of porcelain originated in China around 1600BC and this
association popularised the term 'fine china’, or bone china when the porcelain has had
ground animal bone added to the clay, in order to create an even more durable
material.

Bone China (Fine China)

Earthenware is clay fired at relatively low temperatures of between 1,000 to 1,150

degrees. This results in a hardened but brittle material which is slightly porous (small
holes through which liquid or air can go through), therefore can not be used to contain
water.

To remedy this, a glaze is used to cover the object before it is fired in the kiln for a
second time and rendered waterproof.

This is the longest-established type of pottery, dating back to the Stone

Age. Although its composition can vary significantly, a generic composition
of earthenware clay is: 25 percent ball clay, 28 percent kaolin, 32 percent
quartz, and 15 percent feldspar.

It is the softest type, being fired at the lowest temperature. It is porous

(absorbs water) and easily scratched. To make earthenware objects
waterproof, they need to be coated in a vitreous (glass-like) liquid, and
then re-fired in the kiln. The iron-content of the clay used for earthenware gives
a colour which ranges from buff to dark red, or even cream, grey or black,
according to the amount present and the atmosphere (notably the oxygen content)
in the kiln during firing. Earthenware can be as thin as porcelain, but it is less
strong, less tough, and more porous than stoneware.

Generally speaking, earthenwares are fired at temperatures between

1000-1200 degrees Celsius. The category of earthenware includes all
ancient pottery, terracotta objects, 16th century and later Japanese and
Chinese pottery, as well as European pottery made up to the 17th century.
In particular, it includes maiolica (faience or delft) a tin-glazed style of
earthenware. The greatest examples of fine art earthenware are
undoubtedly the series of Chinese clay warriors, known as the Terracotta
Army.

● Earthenware is pottery that has not been fired to vitrification and is thus
[3]
permeable to water. Many types of pottery have been made from it from the
earliest times, and until the 18th century it was the most common type of pottery
outside the far East. Earthenware is often made from clay, quartz and feldspar.
[4]
Terracotta, a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic,
 [5][6][7][8]
where the fired body is porous. Its uses include vessels (notably flower
pots), water and waste water pipes, bricks, and surface embellishment in building
construction. Terracotta has been a common medium for ceramic art (see below).

Sources: (1), (2), (3), (4)

Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions,

The main points of comparison between Earthenware, Stoneware and Porcelain, will
be the temperature at which the clay is fired and the resulting strength, water
resistance and durability of the finished products.

The quality of the products will be dependant of the quality and purity of the clay that
is used to create them, but as a general rule, Stoneware and Porcelain will be the two
more durable forms of ceramic, which are commonly used as tableware at home.

Most traditional ceramic products were made from clay (or clay mixed with other materials), shaped
and subjected to heat, and tableware and decorative ceramics are generally still made this way. In
modern ceramic engineering usage, ceramics is the art and science of making objects from
inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action of heat. It excludes glass and mosaic made from
glass tesserae.
There is a long history of ceramic art in almost all developed cultures, and often ceramic objects are
all the artistic evidence left from vanished cultures, like that of the Nok in Africa over 2,000 years
ago. Cultures especially noted for ceramics include the Chinese, Cretan, Greek, Persian, Mayan,
Japanese, and Korean cultures, as well as the modern Western cultures.
Elements of ceramic art, upon which different degrees of emphasis have been placed at different
times, are the shape of the object, its decoration by painting, carving and other methods, and the
glazing found on most ceramics.

A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made
[1][2]
by shaping and then firing a nonmetallic mineral, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common
examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick.
The crystallinity of ceramic materials ranges from highly oriented to semi-crystalline, vitrified, and
often completely amorphous (glasses). Most often, fired ceramics are either vitrified or semi-vitrified
as is the case with earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Varying crystallinity and electron
composition in the ionic and covalent bonds cause most ceramic materials to be good thermal and
electrical insulators (researched in ceramic engineering). With such a large range of possible options
for the composition/structure of a ceramic (nearly all of the elements, nearly all types of bonding, and
all levels of crystallinity), the breadth of the subject is vast, and identifiable attributes (hardness,
toughness, electrical conductivity) are difficult to specify for the group as a whole. General properties
such as high melting temperature, high hardness, poor conductivity, high moduli of elasticity,
[3]
chemical resistance and low ductility are the norm, with known exceptions to each of these rules
(piezoelectric ceramics, glass transition temperature, superconductive ceramics). Many composites,
such as fiberglass and carbon fiber, while containing ceramic materials are not considered to be part
[4]
of the ceramic family.
The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects (pots or vessels) or figurines made
from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in fire. Later,
ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the
[5]
use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates. Ceramics
now include domestic, industrial and building products, as well as a wide range of ceramic art. In the
20th century, new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such
as in semiconductors.
The word "ceramic" comes from the Greek word κεραμικός (keramikos), "of pottery" or "for
[6] [7]
pottery", from κέραμος (keramos), "potter's clay, tile, pottery". The earliest known mention of
the root "ceram-" is the Mycenaean Greek ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramic written in Linear B
[8]
syllabic script. The word "ceramic"may be used as an adjective to describe a material, product or
process, or it may be used as a noun, either singular, or more commonly, as the plural noun
"ceramics

Methods Of Presenting Art

Stylistic Period
https://ceramics.org/about/what-are-engineered-ceramics-and-glass/brief-history-of-
ceramics-and-glass
https://ceramics.org/ceramic-tech-today/international/oldest-known-pottery-dates-back-
20000-years-and-may-have-changed-the-course-of-human-history
http://arthistorysummerize.info/ArtHistory/ceramic/
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/ceramics.htm

Essential Principles

Elements
Art elements: line, texture, space, shape/form, value, color
Following a certain art elements will lead to you the design principles to use in
your piece, point of emphasis, rhythm, echoing, good proportion, balance, and
an end result of: harmony or unity

Line
Line in various pieces r

Principles Of Design

Pictures:
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/keywords/ceramic/

Ceramics—objects made from fired clay—are undoubtedly one of the most useful types of
artifacts found at archaeological sites. Ceramic artifacts are highly long-lasting and can survive
thousands of years in their original condition. Ceramic pieces, unlike stone tools, are entirely
handcrafted, formed from clay, and fired for a specific reason. Clay figurines date back to
prehistoric times, but clay pots, or pottery vessels used for storing, cooking, and serving food,
as well as carrying water, were first made in China at least 20,000 years ago.
Yuchanyan and xianrendong caves

The earliest known dates are 19,200-20,900 cal BP from ceramic sherds from the
Paleolithic/Neolithic cave site of Xianrendong in the Yangtse Basin of central China's Jiangxi
province. Bag-shaped and coarse-pasted pots made of local clay with quartz and feldspar
inclusions, with simple or simply painted walls.

The world's second-oldest pottery is found in Hunan Province's Yuchanyan karst cave. Sherds
from at least two pots were discovered in sediments dated between 15,430 and 18,300 calendar
years before the present (cal BP). One was partially built, and it was a wide-mouthed container
with a pointed bottom that resembled the Incipient Jomon pot in the photograph but was around
5,000 years younger. Yuchanyan sherds are thick (up to 2 cm), coarsely pasted, and decorated
on the interior and exterior walls with cord-marks.
Japan

Sherds from the Kamino site in southwestern Japan are the next oldest. This site has a stone
tool assemblage that appears to be late Paleolithic, referred to in Japanese archaeology as Pre-
ceramic to distinguish it from the Lower Paleolithic cultures of Europe and the mainland.
Tiny blades, wedge-shaped microcores, spearheads, and other objects similar to assemblages
at Pre-ceramic sites in Japan dated between 14,000 and 16,000 years before the present were
discovered at the Kamino site, in addition to a handful of potsherds (BP). This layer is
stratigraphically lower than a 12,000 BP securely dated Initial Jomon culture occupation. The
ceramic sherds are small and fragmentary, and they are not decorated. The sherds themselves
were recently thermoluminescence dated and found to be between 13,000 and 12,000 years
old.

Ceramic sherds with a bean-impression decoration have also been discovered in a half-dozen
Mikoshiba-Chojukado sites in southwestern Japan, which are also dated to the late Pre-ceramic
period. The Odaiyamamoto and Ushirono sites, as well as Senpukuji Cave, have sherds of
these pots, which are bag-shaped but slightly pointed at the rim. These sherds, like those found
at the Kamino site, are extremely rare, implying that although the technology was known to the
Late Pre-ceramic cultures, it was not particularly useful to their nomadic lifestyle.
Creative Process
Forming
Forming is the process of shaping the clay. There are different methods in shaping the clay; it
can be done manually, using a potter’s wheel or other mechanical machines, or by using
different types of moulds or formers.
Hand-building - this is the earliest shaping method in which the wares are constructed
by using coils of clay, combining flat slabs of clay, or pinching solid balls of clay; or a
combination of all the three. Hand-building is more used to create one of a kind works
of art.
Potter’s Wheel - it is where you place a ball of clay in the center of the turntable called
the wheel-head which is turned manually by the potter or by an electric motor which
the potter controls. This process is also called throwing. While the wheel is turning with
the clay at the center, the clay is then pressed, squeezed and pulled gently upwards and
outwards into a hollow shape.
Considerable skill and experience are required to throw pots of an acceptable
standard and, while the ware may have high artistic merit, the reproducibility of the
[13]
method is poor. Because of its inherent limitations, throwing can only be used to
create wares with radial symmetry on a vertical axis. These can then be altered by
impressing, bulging, carving, fluting, and incising. In addition to the potter's hands
these techniques can use tools, including paddles, anvils & ribs, and those
specifically for cutting or piercing such as knives, fluting tools, needle tools and wires.
Thrown pieces can be further modified by the attachment of handles, lids, feet and
spouts.

https://thepotterywheel.com/what-is-wheel-throwing/

Jiggering jolleying Jiggering and jolleying are terms that describe a high productivity
method of producing pottery shapes like plates and bowls. A ball of clay is placed on
a rotating mold and forced to conform to the shape of the mold by bearing down on
the clay with a profiled lever arm. The profile or shape of the lever arm determines one
surface of the pot while the mold determines the other surface. The only difference
between jiggering and jolleying is that with jiggering, the mold determines the inner
surface of the pot and with jolleying the mold determines the outer surface of the pot.
If a potter is offering virtually identical plates or bowls for sale, they may have been
jiggered/jolleyed or slip cast rather than being thrown on a wheel. Ask him/her which
technique has been used. All are legitimate techniques; however jiggered, jolleyed or
slip cast pots will normally be less expensive because there is considerably less work
involved. These methods of forming pots can also be carried out by people who are
not as skilled as a potter and are favorite methods of increasing production using low
cost labor.
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-swedish/materials-plastics-ceramics-etc/
153680-jiggering-and-jolleying.html
 https://pureandsimplepottery.com/pages/jiggering

The unfired clay body (greenware) can be formed or shaped in many different
ways: manually, using a potter's wheel or other mechanical means (eg. jollying or
jigging), or by using various types of molds, or 'formers' (consumed during firing)
to hold the required shape. Once the body is shaped it is usually dried before firing,
although some ceramic artists have developed "wet-fired" processes.

Methods of shaping[edit]

A potter shapes a piece of pottery on an electric-powered potter's wheel

Pottery can be shaped by a range of methods that include:

● Hand-building: This is the earliest forming method. Wares can be constructed by hand
from coils of clay, combining flat slabs of clay, or pinching solid balls of clay or some
combination of these. Parts of hand-built vessels are often joined together with the aid
of slip, an aqueous suspension of clay body and water. A clay body can be decorated
before or after firing. Prior to some shaping processes, clay must be prepared, such
as tablewares, although some studio potters find hand-building more conducive to
create one-of-a-kind works of art.

Classic potter's kick wheel in Erfurt, Germany

● The potter's wheel: In a process called "throwing" (coming from the Old English word
[16]
thrown‫ اا‬which means to twist or turn, ) a ball of clay is placed in the center of a
 turntable, called the wheel-head, which the potter rotates with a stick, with foot power
or with a variable-speed electric motor.
During the process of throwing, the wheel rotates while the solid ball of soft clay is
pressed, squeezed and pulled gently upwards and outwards into a hollow shape. The
first step of pressing the rough ball of clay downward and inward into perfect
rotational symmetry is called centring the clay—a most important skill to master
before the next steps: opening (making a centred hollow into the solid ball of clay),
flooring (making the flat or rounded bottom inside the pot), throwing or pulling
(drawing up and shaping the walls to an even thickness), and trimming or turning
(removing excess clay to refine the shape or to create a foot).

Considerable skill and experience are required to throw pots of an acceptable

standard and, while the ware may have high artistic merit, the reproducibility of the
[13]
method is poor. Because of its inherent limitations, throwing can only be used to
create wares with radial symmetry on a vertical axis. These can then be altered by
impressing, bulging, carving, fluting, and incising. In addition to the potter's hands
these techniques can use tools, including paddles, anvils & ribs, and those
specifically for cutting or piercing such as knives, fluting tools, needle tools and wires.
Thrown pieces can be further modified by the attachment of handles, lids, feet and
spouts.

● Granulate pressing: As the name suggests, this is the operation of shaping pottery by
pressing clay in a semi-dry and granulated condition in a mould. The clay is pressed
into the mould by a porous die through which water is pumped at high pressure. The
granulated clay is prepared by spray-drying to produce a fine and free-flowing
material having a moisture content of between about 5 and 6 per cent. Granulate
pressing, also known as dust pressing, is widely used in the manufacture of ceramic
tiles and, increasingly, of plates.
● Injection moulding: This is a shape-forming process adapted for the tableware
industry from the method long established for the forming of thermoplasticand some
[17] [18]
metal components. It has been called Porcelain Injection Moulding, or PIM.
Suited to the mass production of complex-shaped articles, one significant advantage
of the technique is that it allows the production of a cup, including the handle, in a
single process, and thereby eliminates the handle-fixing operation and produces a
[19]
stronger bond between cup and handle. The feed to the mould die is a mix of
approximately 50 to 60 per cent unfired body in powder form, together with 40 to 50
[18]
per cent organic additives composed of binders, lubricants and plasticisers. The
[20]
technique is not as widely used as other shaping methods.
● Jiggering and jolleying: These operations are carried out on the potter's wheel and
allow the time taken to bring wares to a standardized form to be reduced. Jiggering is
the operation of bringing a shaped tool into contact with the plastic clay of a piece
under construction, the piece itself being set on a rotating plaster mould on the wheel.
The jigger tool shapes one face while the mould shapes the other. Jiggering is used
only in the production of flat wares, such as plates, but a similar operation, jolleying,
is used in the production of hollow-wares such as cups. Jiggering and jolleying have
been used in the production of pottery since at least the 18th century. In large-scale
factory production, jiggering and jolleying are usually automated, which allows the
operations to be carried out by semi-skilled labour.
Two moulds for terracotta, with modern casts, from ancient Athens, 5–4th centuries BC

● Roller-head machine: This machine is for shaping wares on a rotating mould, as in

jiggering and jolleying, but with a rotary shaping tool replacing the fixed profile. The
rotary shaping tool is a shallow cone having the same diameter as the ware being
formed and shaped to the desired form of the back of the article being made. Wares
may in this way be shaped, using relatively unskilled labour, in one operation at a rate
of about twelve pieces per minute, though this varies with the size of the articles
being produced. Developed in the UK just after World War II by the company Service
Engineers, roller-heads were quickly adopted by manufacturers around the world;
[21]
they remain the dominant method for producing flatware.
● Pressure casting: Specially developed polymeric materials allow a mould to be
subject to application external pressures of up to 4.0 MPa – so much higher than slip
casting in plaster moulds where the capillary forces correspond to a pressure of
around 0.1–0.2 MPa. The high pressure leads to much faster casting rates and, hence,
faster production cycles. Furthermore, the application of high pressure air through the
polymeric moulds upon demoulding the cast means a new casting cycle can be
started immediately in the same mould, unlike plaster moulds which require lengthy
drying times. The polymeric materials have much greater durability than plaster and,
therefore, it is possible to achieve shaped products with better dimensional
tolerances and much longer mould life. Pressure casting was developed in the 1970s
for the production of sanitaryware although, more recently, it has been applied to
[22][23][24][25]
tableware.
● RAM pressing: This is used to shape ware by pressing a bat of prepared clay body
into a required shape between two porous moulding plates. After pressing,
compressed air is blown through the porous mould plates to release the shaped
wares.
● Slipcasting: This is suited to the making of shapes that cannot be formed by other
methods. A liquid slip, made by mixing clay body with water, is poured into a highly
absorbent plaster mould. Water from the slip is absorbed into the mould leaving a
layer of clay body covering its internal surfaces and taking its internal shape. Excess
slip is poured out of the mould, which is then split open and the moulded object
removed. Slipcasting is widely used in the production of sanitaryware and is also
used for making other complex shaped ware such as teapots and figurines.
● 3D printing: This is the latest advance in forming ceramic objects. There are two
methods. One involves the layered deposition of soft clay similar to fused deposition
modeling (FDM) and the other utilizes powder binding techniques where dry clay
powder is fused together layer upon layer with a liquid.
Firing
Decorating
Glazing
Refiring
Since ancient times, ceramics and glass have been associated with
extraordinary artwork. Approximately 30,000 years ago, clay-based statuettes
were formed to represent animals and religious figures, whereas later dated
pottery was produced not only to hold liquids (e.g., water, wine, and oil) and food,
but also to illustrate stories and provide pictures of ancient life. Mosaics
made with colored pieces of glass and stones became widespread during classic
Greek and Roman times.

Over the centuries, the popularity of ceramics and glass in art has evolved and
expanded into various forms, and, under many aspects, ceramic and glass art
has also become more functional.

Pottery is the most inexpensive and widespread type of ceramic art.

It continues to be associated with local cultures, representing patterns and

shapes of significance to the people living in a certain area, and often
clearly identifying the region of origin.

-For example, Native American vases are typically characterized by relatively

simple geometric patterns rarely using more than four colors. Sometimes,
animals and flowers are pictured, but almost never human beings.

Italian pottery is well known for its vibrant colors and often the painted
images. (The pottery comes in different shapes and sizes (e.g., salt and pepper
shakers, oil and vinegar dispensers, pitchers, coffee cups, trays, and candle
holders), and can be functional or just be used for decoration.)

The Chinese are famous for their fine white porcelain adorned with blue
detailed images of intertwining flowers, plants, and dragons. Chinese
porcelain is mostly used for vases that come in all different sizes and shapes, as
well as for dishes and bowls.

Lately, 3D printing has been introduced as an aid for artists to experiment new
forms and create prototypes in a short time. Alison Britton, Roxanne Swentzell,
Steven Young Lee, Kyungmin Park, Arlene Shechet, and Ron Nagle are just
some of the contemporary artists that have become well-known for their works of
art based on ceramics.

Another form of ceramic art is tile mosaic. It consists of combining colored tiles to
create paintings.

Tiles can be of different dimensions and shapes and they act as the pixels of the
image.

Mosaic art can actually be two- or three dimensional, with the former being the
most popular.

Glass also has an important place in art. Glass art includes three-dimensional
shapes, stained glass, glass mosaics, paintings on glass, and hanging glass.
Ceramics are undoubtedly one of the most useful types of artifacts found at archaeological
sites. Ceramic artifacts are highly long-lasting and can survive thousands of years in their
original condition. The oldest known ceramic artifact is dated as early as 28,000 BCE (BCE =
Before Common Era), during the late Paleolithic period. It is a statuette of a woman, named the
Venus of Dolní Věstonice, from a small prehistoric settlement near Brno, in the Czech Republic.
In this location, hundreds of clay figurines representing Ice Age animals were also uncovered
near the remains of a horseshoe-shaped kiln.

Clay figurines date back to prehistoric times, but clay pots, or pottery vessels used for storing,
cooking, and serving food, as well as carrying water, were first made in China at least 20,000
years ago.

Pottery was first found in a cave site of Xianrendong in the Yangtze Basin of central China’s
Jiangxi province. Bag-shaped and course-pasted pots made of local clay with quartz and
feldspar with simple painted walls were found 19,200-20,900 cal BP.

Japan
Sherds from the Kamino site in southwestern Japan are the next oldest. This site has a stone
tool assemblage that appears to be late Paleolithic, referred to in Japanese archaeology as Pre-
ceramic to distinguish it from the Lower Paleolithic cultures of Europe and the mainland.
Tiny blades, wedge-shaped microcores, spearheads, and other objects similar to assemblages
at Pre-ceramic sites in Japan dated between 14,000 and 16,000 years before the present were
discovered at the Kamino site, in addition to a handful of potsherds (BP). This layer is
stratigraphically lower than a 12,000 BP securely dated Initial Jomon culture occupation. The
ceramic sherds are small and fragmentary, and they are not decorated. The sherds themselves
were recently thermoluminescence dated and found to be between 13,000 and 12,000 years
old.

Ceramic sherds with a bean-impression decoration have also been discovered in a half-dozen
Mikoshiba-Chojukado sites in southwestern Japan, which are also dated to the late Pre-ceramic
period. The Odaiyamamoto and Ushirono sites, as well as Senpukuji Cave, have sherds of
these pots, which are bag-shaped but slightly pointed at the rim. These sherds, like those found
at the Kamino site, are extremely rare, implying that although the technology was known to the
Late Pre-ceramic cultures, it was not particularly useful to their nomadic lifestyle.