Ceramic Slab Technique

The most common handbuilding techniques are pinch pottery coil building and slab building.

Ceramic slab technique.

To make a pinch pot one inserts a thumb into a ball of clay and continually pinches the the clay between the thumb and fingers while rotating to thin. Below are the three most common forms of creating hand built pots. Pinchpot coiling and slab techniques. Slabbing clay is a technique the includes rolling out slabs of clay and then cutting out pieces and attaching them together to create pots cups and urns.

The slabs of clay need to still be wet enough to produce strong seams yet also firm enough to be able to hold up their own weight when placed vertically. Modern potters and ceramic sculptors have embraced the slab creating works using both soft slabs and stiff leather hard slabs. This technique offers less warpage than soft slab construction. Today slab pots and slab building techniques are experiencing a renewed popularity.

Liz zlot summerfield is also an excellent resource for slab building techniques. If you have caught the slab pottery bug you ve come to the right place for inspiration. Before potters began using pottery wheels simple tools were used to create clay pottery. Slabbing clay is a handbuilding pottery technique that has been around for centuries.

Handbuilding is an ancient pottery making technique that involves creating forms without a pottery wheel using the hands fingers and simple tools. Once the clay is leather hard cut out your pieces and join them by scoring and slipping. Before potters had the wheel they were creating beautiful pots and clay forms using clay their hands and fingers and basic hand tools. Use only dried and firm slabs of clay for this technique.

To get you started check out this article by daryl baird on using slump molds with soft slabs. Handbuilding is working with clay by hand using only simple tools not the pottery wheel. More on soft slab pottery. Jomon vessel 3000 2000 b c e on view at tokyo national museum tokyo japan.