190 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1 9 10 



A shelf of fine shapes 



allowed to dry through the night and be finished next day. 

 A very practical way of aiding the shaping of the vessel is 

 to cut a piece of cardboard the contour of the bowl and 

 test the shape with the cardboard outline. The bowl may 

 then be smoothed with an oval steel tool which is bent to 

 fit. Hold it at right-angles and work with short strokes in 

 different directions, continuing this both inside and outside 

 the bowl until every part of it is smooth and free from 

 indentations. Have at hand a mixture of clay and water 

 of the consistency of cream; this is known as slip. If a 

 depression appears, wet the spot with slip, and fill in with 

 fresh clay. 



The next process is to smooth the bowl with a damp 

 sponge and polish with the fingers. Do not hold the 

 pottery by the edge or it will break off, but after cutting it 

 away from the board with a piece of wire, hold it in the 

 hollow of the hand. If the weather is warm it may be 

 necessary to sand-paper the bowl instead of dampening it 

 with the sponge as pottery is apt to become too dry in hot 

 weather and in this state the addition of water might cause 

 it to crack. 



It is very important to have the bottom of the bowl 

 perfectly true. Pour a little water on a ground-glass slab 

 and move the bowl rapidly round and round on the wet sur- 

 face and slide it off the glass on to the table before it clings 

 to the glass. 



There are several ways of coloring and glazing pottery. 

 Clay that is simply baked without glazing will not hold 

 water perfectly. We will suppose the bowl is to be green 

 with a dull porous finish. It will be necessary to color it in 

 the following way. Ordinary dry colors can be obtained 

 from any artist's supply store and when mixed with the 

 right liquid can be applied to the clay. If it is decided to 

 have a dull green mat finish, the green can be made by 

 mixing oxide of copper and potassium. Mix with this a so- 

 lution of gum arabic and water which must be of the con- 

 sistency of thick cream. Apply the color to the moist sur- 

 face of the clay then put the bowl on one side for two or 

 three hours and allow the color to set. Before the clay is 

 hard the color must be well worked into it with a smooth 

 tool. The back of a wooden spoon is excellent for the pur- 

 pose. The rubbing of the spoon will impart a gloss which 



will be unchanged by the firing. The bowl must nut be 

 fired for two or three days, as it must be perfectly dry. 



There are other methods of coloring, and one is to mix 

 the pigment with the clay before the vessel is molded; an- 

 other way is to paint the piece with colored slip which con- 

 sists of a solution of clay and water, to which color has 

 been added, until it is of the consistency of cream. If de- 

 sired, a further finish can be given by rubbing floor wax on 

 to the surface. This fills up the pores and gives a more 

 uniform appearance to the pottery. There are so many 

 kinds of kilns, but an ordinary over-glazed kiln is suitable 

 for firing simple hand-made pottery. In almost every town 

 there are kilns to which the craftsman can send his pottery. 

 The artist, colorman or art school can usually give the 

 address where they may be sent. 



Another process of making hand-made pottery is the 

 Indian method of building up with coils. A piece of clay is 

 formed by coiling strips the length of the circumference of 

 the vessel. It may be begun by hollowing out a lump of 

 clay as described in the making of a bowl, or the strips of 

 clay can be laid inside a pottery mold and the strips coiled 

 within the mold. To coil in a mold take a piece of clay, 

 knead free from air-bubbles and beat it until it is about 

 three-quarters of an inch thick and a little larger than the 

 bottom of the mold. To make it perfectly smooth it can 

 be rolled with a rolling-pin. The mold must be first dusted 

 with powdered flint which can be shaken through the mesh 

 of the cotton cloth in which it is tied up. Lay the piece of 

 clay into the mold and fit it with the fingers lightly but 

 firmly, then cut an even edge. Now take a coil of clay 

 about an inch in diameter, and long enough to reach around 

 the circumference of the vessel, and one end of it must be 

 shaped into a point, before adding it. Cross-cut the edge 

 of the clay to insure its holding firmly to the coil, and after 

 having brushed it with slip, add the coil, pressing firmly to 

 the foundation piece. For working the edges of the coil 

 to the main piece, use the flat part of the thumb, or the nail 

 of the fore-finger so that the joint in the coil fits exactly. 

 A second coil can now be added but it will not be necessary 

 to cross-cut the edge. Continue adding the coils until the 

 vessel is of the right height. When the top of the mold is 

 reached and more coils are added, be very careful to make 





■ 





^^^^^^Hl 







^■I^^H 



■■■■1 

















^^^Bc?'«>t' ■ ^^^^^^^^^1 



MBy ><* '*' *'*flBj9JI 



1 







B^^^^l 





^^1 





8E'<^ •^*- *^ 



H 



iwMi^^^m 



■ "^^m 



jfjj^^^'" -jff^^^^^^^ 





^^^^B^^l 



E^' ^ ' '1^1 



s*-^ ■~~— - 



1 





^L^_^^ 



Sk'^'^^^I 



|KL^^^^|ijH|gfl 



|B^iS 



^H^Bntiv -*^^^^l 



i^^^^l^gff^ 



^m 





ijRHRHHBHi 













^^^^^^ :"v!*j^'" 



Pottery from the Handicraft Shop in Marblehead 



