10.30.2008

Traditional pot trimming, China

Jingdezhen is all about ceramics.  There is a wonderful ceramics museum with kilns, pottery makers of all kinds, shops, and on and on.  I managed to get some video of one of the artists trimming a pot.  For those who don't know about ceramic process, the wet clay is formed into a shape by throwing it on a potters wheel.  The pot is then dried and then it is trimmed to make it's final form  - thinning the walls and making the foot of the pot the right shape.  In the states the trimming is generally done when the clay is "leather hard" - firm but not completely dry.  Here, the pot is trimmed when the clay is "bone dry."  This man in this video is using the traditional methods all around.  Notice how he makes the wheel spin at the beginning.  No power except his own.  My potter friends can probably find all kinds of things to correct in my description of this process, but watch the video and you will get the idea.


1 comment:

18 said...

That's really interesting, Mary! Send more videos.