History:
The oldest ceramic piece known to man is the Venus of Dolní Věstonice, discovered in the Czech Republic. It was discovered in 1925, and is the first evidence of clay being fired to produce a hardened product. The Venus is believed to be at least 12,000 years older than the oldest pieces of pottery, which are from ancient Japan around 12,700 BCE.
These first pottery pieces are from the Jōmon, rope-patterned, era of Japanese history, named for the rope patterns that were pressed into the clay of the pots before being fired at between 1000 and 1600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Early glazes were made from ash, tin and celadon. Modern glazes are made primarily from crushed glass, clay and flux, a compound that adjusts the melting point of the materials.
Ceramics v Pottery
There is no true difference between ceramics and pottery, except in the ways the words themselves are used. Both ceramics and pottery are formed from a type of clay and can be glazed or not, though most modern pieces are usually coated in some type of glaze. Often, ceramics refers to the art of using clay on the whole, where pottery usually refers to less refined pieces, or pots and other containers.
There are three main types of ceramics or pottery, earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The differences between these make for very different types of products. Earthenware is more porous and fragile after firing, stoneware is thicker, sturdier and more for everyday use and porcelain, held up to a bright light, is actually slightly transparent. All the different kinds of clay need different conditions for firing, different glazes and have different uses and ingredients.
Process of Making a Pot
Every pot, no matter what it's made from, starts with clay and an artist. There are many different methods to forming a pot, one of the earliest of which is the coiling method. Clay was formed into thin pieces, then pinched or beaten together into the shape of a pot. Sometimes the unfinished pot would be placed on a mat so the artist could turn the mat instead of walking around the pot to add more to it. It is believed that this is where the idea of the pottery wheel came from. The earliest pottery wheels were called Tournettes, and started to be used around 3500 BC. They were operated by the artist themselves, by pushing the wheel with a hand or foot while they worked, and were extremely slow. Faster wheels were developed soon after, as well as the technique of throwing pottery, a technique still used today by artists usually with a motorized pottery wheel. If you are interested in seeing a demonstration, this is a good example from youtube:
Come back in a few days and I'll continue to discuss how pots, such as those in our Ceramica Mundo collection, are created. If you would like to know more about anything I discussed or if you have any requests for topics I should cover, please feel free to email me at orders@sanmigueltradingco.com. As always, if something interests or confuses you, research! I am open to discussion of any type and I would love to hear from you!
No comments:
Post a Comment