Oriental Coiled pottery
By rolling out strands of high fire
stoneware clay, the process of Oriental Coiling begins, one
of the oldest ways of forming pottery. The long strands are
layered on top of each other and joined together by blending
them, coil to coil.
The pot is then covered and allowed to
rest overnight before being shaped through pressing the clay
outward. Once the clay is dry like leather, porcelain slip
is painted onto the outside surface. Designs are immediately
carved into the pot with a sharp tool creating an
eye-catching vessel. This technique is called sgraffito (skră-fē'tō):
meaning to scratch though the surface to reveal a different
color underneath.
The piece is air dried completely for
several days and then glazed by spraying. At this stage, the
pot is quite fragile and will crumble if hit or dissolve if
too much glaze is applied. It is carefully put into the gas
kiln, where it is fired in a 14 hour process to 2350°F.
Firing only once it eliminates the bisque firing step, which
conserves fuel, but still produces beautiful glaze results.
