Pottery wheel

“ This the potter set and kept in motion with his foot, leaving his hands28 free at all times to mould the clay, while the wheel was kept at a regular speed.
What is technically known as “throwing” or moulding pottery on the wheel is a process that is not learned in a moment, or even in a day. It takes time and patience, but it is certainly one of the most fascinating parts of the craft. One would have lost half of the charm of pottery-making who had not felt the plastic clay, on the potter’s wheel, rise and fall between his hands, almost as if endowed with life! ”

“ As the wheel turns, lay the left forefinger, wet with slip, just inside the top of the piece, and directly opposite (at the point where one wishes to cut the top) run the point of the tool through, till it touches the finger, and hold it steady and firm till one revolution of the wheel has been made. The wheel is then stopped, and the edge that was cut lifted off deftly and quickly. ”

“ If one wishes to have a more flaring top, lay the forefinger of the right hand inside the edge with ever so slight an outward pressure, while the wheel turns once. Before perfecting the bottom, it may be as well to let the piece stiffen for half an hour.
The hoe-shaped tool is used for cutting away the extra clay under the bottom. Set the wheel in motion, then take the tool, well moistened with slip, in the left hand. ”

“ Get the wheel going well, and holding the hoe-shaped tool so that its middle angle will strike the bottom of the piece about half an inch from the edge, aim it truly and hold it steadily till the wheel has made one or more revolutions, which will mark a circle. ”

“ But the application of a circular table or lathe, laid horizontally and revolving on a central pivot, on which the clay was placed, and to which it adhered, was in its day a truly wonderful advance. As the wheel spun round, all combinations of oval, spherical, and cylindrical forms could be produced, and the vases not only became symmetrical in their proportions, but truthfully reproduced the potter’s conception. The invention of the wheel has been ascribed to all the great nations of antiquity. ”

“ The first and most obvious subdivision which the early British fictile ware admits of, is into hand-made and wheel-made pottery. Notwithstanding the remarkable example above referred to of the discovery of the former along with gold relics, it is most probable that the hand-made pottery will be generally found to belong to the earliest period. The inverse argument is at any rate indisputable, which assigns the wheel-made pottery to the period of partially developed art and tutored skill. ”

“ The art of pottery is confined to the women, and is practically restricted to the wives and daughters of fishermen. The material employed by them is a red or blue clay mixed with sand, and their implements are merely an annular cushion, a flat stone, one or two wooden scrapers, a round stone to hold against the inside of the vessel, and [931] a sharp stick. They have no wheel: and yet, in spite of such disadvantages, they contrive to produce vessels so true in outline, that few persons, unless they are practically acquainted with pottery, could believe that they were merely rounded by the eye. ”

“ When the wheel is in motion, this tool, moistened with water and bent to fit the curves of the piece, is held in the right hand at right angles with the piece, while the left hand supports the wrist of the right. ”

“ It seems probable that the wicker-marked pottery is the most primitive, and an extended study of it might lead to a clearer understanding of the beginnings of pottery-making. The next distinct advance was apparently the use of a fabric as a base, supported by some smooth surface, and then as a further development the coil ware, a process still in use among the Moki, and the simplest and easiest way of modeling a clay vessel without the aid of the wheel; progress in pottery, as in other arts, having been in the direction of simplicity of construction combined with skill in execution. ”

“ The use of the potter’s wheel is unknown, while it is remarkable how beautifully true and finely-fashioned much primitive pottery is. The primitive red and black vases discovered by Flinders Petrie in Egypt, and the somewhat similar vessels of prehistoric date from Spain, are remarkable instances of this. Some primitive races leave their pottery without decoration, especially when they have a fine red-burning clay to work in, but, generally speaking, primitive pottery of every race and time is elaborately decorated, but only with the simplest patterns. ”

“ The elbows should be well braced against the sides of the body, so as to hold the hands absolutely steady, for they should never waver or swing with the wheel, but hold true and firm. If the mass is not exactly in the centre of the wheel, or the cone shape is not even, the hands are again wet with slip, a few drops of which are shaken on to the clay. ”

“ The wheel is the true fountain head of all beautiful shapes, and the student who would become a potter cannot get “on the wheel” too soon. Throwing, sometimes spinning, is the term applied to the making of shapes on the wheel. Interesting and really fine pots may be built or cast, but the ultimate appeal rests with the thrown shape. ”

“ Next tie a rope or stout cord around the oilcloth, about on a level with the wheel, and, to make it more secure, wedge it with a piece of wood. Roll strips of clay about the diameter of a lead pencil, and stop the cracks where the oilcloth overlaps, also between the oilcloth and the wheel, very carefully, so as not to touch the clay mould. Be careful, from now on, not to move the wheel until the mould is made. Now mix your plaster of paris, as follows: Have an empty basin or dishpan, large enough to hold the quantity necessary for the mould—you will learn to judge this pretty well by eye. ”

“ Nevertheless, coins when found should be carefully quoted. Pottery naturally takes the largest place, as it was abundant, and its fragments are a good guide to period, and being practically indestructible and of no intrinsic value are most likely to be met with. The difference between pottery made with the use of the wheel and that made without is important to be noted. The use of the wheel can usually be detected through the slight inequalities of the clay that make a series of parallel lines on the inner surface. ”

“ In building up a certain shape it is best to use a templet of cardboard or plaster, to be sure that the profile of the vase is followed out correctly. To give the required finish at the end, modeling tools as well as further rubbing with the fingers are required.
With this process in mind it is easy to distinguish between built and wheel-made pottery among the Greek wares. In the built pottery, however careful the work, there is always a certain unevenness of outline—which indeed gives it some of its charm. ”

“ Expert potters can turn with the foot while the hands are busy moulding, but we who are beginners will do wisely to start the wheel revolving, then, keeping both feet on the rest, give all our attention to the hand-work, until the slower revolutions warn us that it is time to give the wheel another start. ”

“ Noticeably one piece of pottery is exceedingly excellent, worthy of a good period of classic Greek ware. The pattern round it is evidently stamped on, being [207] done with such absolute accuracy. It is geometric, as all the patterns on the pottery are. It is not hand-made pottery, for on the back of it are distinct signs of a wheel. Then there are some black fragments with an excellent glaze and bevel, also fragments of pottery lids, and a pottery stopper, pointing to the fact that the old inhabitants of Zimbabwe had reached an advanced state of proficiency in ceramic art. ”

“ Do your best with each piece, and if the work flattens turn it into a pretty dish by pinching the edge to form a little lip, and adding a handle like Fig. 327.
Fig. 327.—Turn it into a pretty dish.
As you are working without a wheel the symmetry of your pottery must depend entirely upon your eye and hand, therefore keep turning the block upon which it stands that no irregularity may be overlooked.
When you add ornaments or handles see that the roll of clay from which you make them adheres closely to the vessel. Add soft clay to the joints and smooth until the whole seems to be of one piece. ”

“ The pottery is of good material and form, though still made without the aid of the potter's wheel. The indentations of the pattern are frequently filled in with a white chalk like substance. Many of the vessels are rounded at the bottom, and perforations or handles show that they are meant to hang. ”

“ Some of the pieces are made by Belgian school children, others in potteries started by a club of men in Belgium, followers of Ruskin, who have revived the craft, employing only Belgians to design and mould the ware. The old methods are carefully followed—the pieces are wheel-made, not formed in moulds. Much of the decoration is done by boys, who make a charming picture, clad in blouses and sabots, their young faces all interested and absorbed in the work. ”

“ They used fire to hollow them out, and the blows of the flint hatchet used to remove the charred portions, are still to be observed in some specimens.
The Neolithic people had learned how to manufacture pottery, though not of a very superior quality. It is all hand-made: so the potter’s wheel had not yet been introduced. The material is clay mixed with gravel or pounded shells. Very often they ornamented their clay vessels with lines and dots. ”

“ It is not impossible, but on the contrary appears extremely probable, from a close inspection of the mound pottery, that the ancient people possessed the simple approximation towards the potter’s wheel, consisting of a stick of wood grasped in the hand by the middle and turned round inside a wall of clay, formed by the other hand or by another workman. ”

“ They weave and dye several kinds of cloth, tan and dress leather and manufacture oil and soap. Without the assistance of the wheel the women produce a variety of pottery utensils, often of very graceful design, and decorated with patterns in red and black. ”

“ At first, it will be wise to learn how to set the wheel in motion. Suppose we practice this a few times before beginning to mould. When one is seated on the inclined bench, the left foot on the rest, the right foot starting just below the body,30 near the outer edge of the wheel, swings the flywheel from right to left. ”

“ In the upper of these is elementary cuneiform writing on tablets. Below that is a period of rather rough, thick pottery, painted with chequer patterns and closely-crossed lines, of the style common in early Syria and Cyprus. And at the bottom of all is a great quantity of very fine, thin wheel-made pottery of buff tints, with decoration of thin diagonal lines, rows of ostriches, and various patterns all derived from basket-work. ”

“ It was adopted, in time, in western Europe; it was quickly “taken up” in Babylonia and in Iran, and was ultimately introduced into India and China. But only the high Asiatic civilizations were capable of constructing it, and consequently wheel-made pottery is not found everywhere. Among the “aboriginal Americans” the wheel was never employed. It is an interesting fact that the mind of man, which is alleged to “work” on the same lines everywhere, never “evolved” a potter’s wheel in Mexico or Peru.7 Major Gordon tells that in Assam8 “the women fashion the pots by hand ”

“ For the insides of bowls or wide-mouthed shapes, a rib of slate or zinc (see Fig. 30) will be useful for obliterating ridges. The last operation is to pass the wire, held firmly to the wheel head, beneath the pot and lift it off and place it on one of the pot boards or plaster discs. (Fig. 32.)
Fig. 30
The first primitive forms are far better left frankly for what they are. Afterwards when bigger and more finished shapes are attempted, they can be thinned and refined with the aid of the rib and a modelling tool, a considerable finish being put on67 before they are removed from the wheel. ”

“ Most beginners in clay modelling will expect, perhaps in the early stages of their work, to be made acquainted with the potter's wheel; for who has not heard of this interesting device? It is of interest chiefly because of its practical utility in the manufacture of pottery; and yet no one can forget the potter's song with which Longfellow begins his beautiful poem Keramos, making it a text for a sermon on the philosophy of life:
"Turn, turn, my wheel! ”

“ Much of the glamour of the potter's art is associated with the wheel. Poets have sung its praise and artists have delighted in its rhythmic motion, but alas! the wheel as a commercial method of manufacture is doomed to extinction. It cannot compete with the precision and speed of machinery. It devolves, therefore, upon the artist potter to maintain the wheel in its rightful place as, par excellence, the potter's tool.
No clay worker's studio should be without a wheel, but the particular form of wheel depends upon the nature of the circumstances under which it is to be employed. ”

“ Across the under side a short length of match stale is glued, to act as an axle for the two wheels. These can be cut from either veneer or cardboard. A good plan is to cut out a circle in fairly stiff cardboard, and glue a covering of veneer on each side; this adds to the appearance of the wheel and makes it stiffer. If veneer alone is used, two circles must be cut out for each wheel, and glued together with the grain at right angles. The wheels should be fixed in position with doll pins. ”