Pottery art. Pottery masters. The main nuances of pottery

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Pottery was originally developed as a craft used to make containers for meals or vessels in which bulk and liquid materials are stored. Today it is a processing by molding on a specially designed potter's wheel, after which glaze is applied to the dried product, followed by the obligatory firing of clay. In this way, items are made that are used in any field: household items, construction, decorations, jewelry, souvenirs. These products are called pottery ceramics, they can be found in any corner of our planet.

There are three main production classes in pottery technology:

• production of building bricks;
• making pottery or stoneware;
• working out more exquisite earthenware or porcelain items.

Based on production technology, all pottery classessimilar to each other, but there are a number of nuances that affect the final result. The main difference is the grades of clay that underlie the product.

History

As mentioned earlier, pottery originated from a craft that served solely to make vessels for storing materials and food. Over time, it developed, enriched and appeared before us today no longer in the form that our distant ancestors saw it. Technological discoveries began to produce new items of dressing, which led to the emergence of items such as refractory bricks, stoneware, roof tiles, tiles, drainage pipes, architectural decorations and numerous other products.

Due to the fact that society began to finish and decorate the usual clay products, pottery moved from the category of craft to the category of art. Making clay pots has been popular in antiquity ever since mankind became acquainted with the material common on the planet - clay and its properties.

The Old Testament contains several references to the profession of a potter and his products. The oldest vessels made of clay, even in the prehistoric era, got off with a human hand and, accordingly, were of irregular shape. A little later, there are round and oval items, obviously made using a potter's wheel. History has not preserved information about the exact appearance of this circle, but it has been mentioned since antiquity.

It is known that in Asia the firstPorcelain products appeared two thousand years ago. This indicates that the pottery industry in China has developed much more rapidly than in the rest of the world.

Each nation had its own traditions associated with this craft, which turned into an art. So in African countries at the beginning of the twentieth century pots were made by hand, clay was dried in the sun, and the product was fired with a bundle of straw and fire.

As for Europe, here until the eighth century, pottery was in complete decline. Only the Spanish Moors gave it a push, around the same time there were products that were covered with glaze.

Pottery flourished around the thirteenth century. The most striking surge occurred in Italy, where majolica was invented - a type of ceramic that is made from fired clay. Florence gave the world such a master of pottery as Luca della Robbia, his sculptures and other works are considered the pride of the nation in our time.

Using the technologies of the sculptor Robbia, the Tuscan factories have taken another step forward - faience products. They were first burned with fire, then they were covered with white glaze, on which drawings were made, after which the product was subjected to a second firing, stronger than the first. From majolica began to make not only architectural decorations, but also household utensils, flowerpots, figurines.

After the decline of pottery in Italy, France took over. It was here that the clay kiln was invented.

In the Middle Ages earthenwaredishes were created and used only by the poor, the upper classes used pewter, silver, and gold. Pottery was also widely used in church decoration. Here it was used to create jugs. The churches of Novgorod, as well as the temples of the Romanov times, are decorated with similar items.

At the end of the eighteenth century, entire factories began to appear around the world that were engaged in pottery.

Ceramic items

The main difference between the varieties of ceramics is the composition of the mass, as well as the type of glaze from which they are made. There are two types of pottery: dense and porous.

Dense - these are products that, when fired due to high temperature, merge into a homogeneous solid mass. At a break, such a product resembles glass. It is translucent and does not absorb liquid, and when it hits steel, it gives sparks. An example of dense pottery is porcelain.

Porous, on the contrary, break easily, let liquid through. Among such products is faience.

There may be products that do not belong to any type, but are something transitional between these two types.

Dense

The following belong to this category of pottery:

• Hard porcelain. The mass is fused, translucent, fine-grained, elastic, homogeneous, hard, it will not succumb to the action of a knife. Such porcelain contains kaolin, chalk, quartz and feldspar. It is subjected to a double firing: first weak for glaze, then strong aftercoverage.
• Soft porcelain. It is also called French. Its content is an almost transparent lead glaze. This also requires a double firing, only very strong at first and weaker at the end.
• Unglazed porcelain, or biscuit. Has the usual porcelain mass.
• Pariyan. It is close to soft porcelain in mass, has a yellowish tint, and is hard to melt.
• Carrara. White, translucent. Its mass is a cross between stone products and pariyan.
• Stone products. They have a dense fine-grained mass. There are ordinary and delicate products, mostly white.

Porous

This category contains:

• Delicate faience. It is a mixture of refractory clay and silica. It is covered with transparent glaze. The mass is opaque, ringing.
• Ordinary faience, or majolica. This is a red-yellow mass, which, after firing, is covered with an opaque tin glaze.
• Products from ordinary and fire-resistant clay. This includes bricks, tiles, drainage pipes, etc.
• Baked stone mass, or, as it is also called, terracotta. Its composition is refined clay and ground fragments of finished products. It is used to decorate vases and other items.
• Ordinary pottery. The mass is produced from clay, clay marl, and also from opaque lead glaze.

Pottery materials

To make brick, porcelain, faience, you need to do the following work: make a clay mass, form it, dry it,fire and glaze. The main material for the manufacture of products is clay. Potters prefer to use potting clay, which has the right viscosity and its temperature resistance is ideal for creating products. Despite the fact that the clay itself has a high level of plasticity, the addition of auxiliary materials is mandatory due to the fact that during firing it is rapidly and unevenly compressed, which turns the product into an awkward thing. To make the simplest product, you also need sand, ash, sawdust, for better quality products you need fireclay - a powder that is obtained from crushed products.

For the production of ordinary pottery, previously mined clay must be left for one to two years in air or in water. After that, it is kneaded in wooden boxes, in factories and factories this is done by special machines. This action is necessary in order to clear the clay of stones or debris. After the clay is taken out of the boxes, it is piled into heaps, which are cut into thin slices with a knife. They are again placed in boxes and are re-kneaded, cleared of impurities that could remain on it. Higher grades of products, especially colorless ones, require components that must be perfectly cleaned. The basic rule of a benign clay mass is its uniformity. For the purpose of high-quality cleaning, the clay is divided into small pieces, which are poured with water and after a day of “soaking” they are thrown into kneading machines. The teeth of this machine, during rapid rotation, cut clay, and a stream of water passing through this chamber carries away very small pieces into a special pool, large ones remain at the bottom. The pool is designed for the next level of cleaning, here coarse particles are deposited, after which another jet carries them into the second pool. In it, the clay is finally sifted out. This technology uses only warm water, because it separates the clay pieces better, and the cleaning process is noticeably faster due to the optimal temperature.

The proportions of the components are determined for each type of product separately. Mixing of funds also occurs in different ways: dry, with knives or with jets of water. When this homogeneous mass is obtained, a large number of unwanted bubbles still remain in it. This problem is eliminated either with special equipment or with the help of feet, which simply trample the clay until the desired consistency is obtained.

Firing

In a narrow sense, ceramics is the same clay, but fired. Accordingly, when they say "ceramics", they mean products made from inorganic materials (often clay), as well as their mixtures with various additives, which are produced under the influence of high temperatures and subsequent cooling.

The firing process triggers irreversible changes, after which the material turns into ceramic. Under the influence of high temperature, fusion of small particles occurs in those places where they are in contact.

In the production of porcelain, technology undergoes significant changes. itoccurs due to differences in materials, required temperature and different properties of the components. Each source material has its own proportions, as well as a certain temperature regime:

• for clay products - 1000-1200 degrees Celsius;
• for ceramic products - 1100-1300;
• for porcelain products – 1200-1400.

The technology of roasting products is carried out by various methods. Nevertheless, the kiln firing process is a centuries-old, unchanging tradition. Depending on the temperature and duration of the process, products of different quality are obtained. Therefore, the maximum temperature in production ovens does not change until the production of an entire batch of products is completed.

Moreover, the appearance of the finished product also depends on the composition of the atmosphere in the kiln. You can cause one or another degree of air oxidation. With the help of specially set parameters, it is even possible to achieve that potter's clay will change color from brown to green.

Glaze application

Some pottery is not glazed at all. These include bricks, tiles, terracotta, pots. The so-called glazing is carried out in order to protect clay products from excess moisture. The same result was achieved in antiquity with milk roasting - a method of making products beautiful and waterproof.

Not the most expensive clay items are glazed raw at the same time as they are fired. This is called antling. The essence of this action is thatduring firing, s alt is thrown into the oven, which turns into vapor and settles on the product. Where it lands, a low-melting compound called ants forms.

Another way of coating is that the glaze, crushed into a fine powder, is sprinkled on the product. Often these are products of rough manufacture: pots, unfired pipes, and so on. Before coating, the product is smeared with flour paste and fired.

The essence of the third method is that the product is doused with glaze, which has the consistency of cream. A similar method covers solid products that practically do not absorb liquid. For example, some types of porcelain and earthenware.

And the last way is that porcelain and faience products are placed in a container with glaze. This method is intended for products that are lightly fired and initially absorb liquid. The glaze is ground into a fine powder, mixed with water. In this liquid, resembling milk in consistency, a product is placed that absorbs this mixture. It is possible to make a drawing on such a glaze.

Art Therapy

In today's rhythm, everyone finds their own way to relax. One of the most beautiful and unusual methods is to do pottery. There are two ways to try yourself in this art. The first is to buy a potter's wheel and the necessary materials to practice on your own. A pottery workshop in your own home is not only stylish and fashionable, but also incredibly exciting foryou, your family and friends. In this case, you can feel like a free artist, try different forms based on video tutorials.

The second way is the school of pottery. In the class of beginners like yourself, you will have the opportunity to try on the role of the creator of the beautiful, the artist and the sculpture.

Psychologists say that pottery is a great way to cope with stress, become more balanced and attentive. Art therapy, according to experts, is one of the best methods of dealing with depression and other nervous disorders. Spending time at the potter's wheel helps to organize thoughts, distract from small everyday troubles and find a way out of a difficult life situation. "Full dedication to the cause will not solve your problems, but it will definitely help you find ways to solve them," the doctors say in one voice.

DIY products

In every home there are clay, ceramic or porcelain products. Under the conditions of mass production, it is difficult to surprise someone with factory-made tableware or a flower vase.

Pottery is an incredibly fun and exciting activity for the whole family. You can have fun, learn a new business, develop skills and dexterity.

After visiting the first pottery workshop, you will be able to make a pot yourself. Attentive teachers are usually patient with newcomers, guiding them and helping in everything. Pottery helps to cope with minor stresses, distracts from everyday life.fuss. And the products that you make yourself will be a reason to be proud of another victory over yourself. In addition, after you work around the circle and blind your pot, you will have the opportunity to paint it with your own hands. Here you can show all your imagination. Such a product will be a wonderful gift for a loved one.

Parties, birthdays and corporate events held for such an unusual activity are popular. This is a good opportunity to communicate, get to know each other better and see the creative potential of your friends. In addition, such a holiday will surely be remembered for its unusualness, originality, and products made independently at the potter's wheel will be an excellent gift in memory of a wonderful day. And someone, perhaps, will discover a talent in himself and seriously take up this business in order to open his own museum of pottery in the future. Children will especially like this activity. If they are good at sculpting from plasticine, then you need to try to send them to the school of pottery. This will help develop hand motor skills, have a beneficial effect on the mood of the baby, and also allow you to discover the child's creative potential. An interesting and exciting hobby develops attention, imagination and thinking.

Hobby or business?

In the modern world, pottery is very popular. They belong to the category of products that are always in demand and relevant. Each house has dishes, vases, pots, various figurines and souvenirs. For many centuries, this craft, growing into art, has been popular and in demand. And thereforepassion for pottery is increasingly growing into a real business. Our own pottery workshop is a very profitable business, because the main raw material is clay - a free material that literally lies just under our feet. Beautiful, original, designer products can bring a good income to the manufacturer. The master of pottery is a profession for the soul. You can diversify the world around you, get a unique hobby that will bring you profit, and also reveal your creative potential.

Pottery art is popular all over the world. Even though it has been around for decades, it will never go out of style.