CHAPTER III

WORKING ON THE WHEEL

That the primitive potter did not mould his pottery on a wheel we can be reasonably sure. The Egyptians, however, as early as 4000 B. C., used the simplest potter’s wheel, as is proved by fragments of pottery still in existence. This wheel was a small, round table revolving on a pivot (see Fig. 10). The potter set it in motion with his hand, and from time to time gave it a spin to keep it revolving. The same wheel is used to this day in many parts of India. An improvement on this simple contrivance was made in Egypt under the Ptolemies. A larger circular table was fixed lower down on the same axis. This the potter set and kept in motion with his foot, leaving his hands free at all times to mould the clay, while the wheel was kept at a regular speed.

What is technically known as “throwing” or moulding pottery on the wheel is a process that is not learned in a moment, or even in a day. It takes time and patience, but it is certainly one of the most fascinating parts of the craft. One would have lost half of the charm of pottery-making who had not felt the plastic clay, on the potter’s wheel, rise and fall between his hands, almost as if endowed with life!

The rapidity with which pieces can be formed on the wheel is an advantage over other processes, while the regularity of shape, refinement and perfection of finish give wheel-made pottery a beauty all its own. Until lately, few women potters have worked on the wheel, because the ordinary form of potter’s wheel, which was turned with one foot, the potter standing on the other, made the work too difficult and laborious for a woman to attempt. Now, however, a wheel copied from an old French model is in use which enables the potter to sit while at work. This is the wheel shown in Fig. 11. It is obtainable from makers of potters’ tools. The cost of such a wheel, with an iron top and shaft, and wooden flywheel made of three thicknesses of boards, is eighteen dollars, but second-hand wheels can sometimes be bought for much less. When the wheel is set up, the shaft box (a square box below the upper wheel) is fastened to the edge of a strong table or shelf, which has been placed in a good light. A seat which slants forward, not unlike a reading-desk in form, is made of wood (see Fig. 11), and set up near enough to the wheel for a person sitting on it to reach the wheel comfortably. It is braced by a board on either side extending diagonally forward, from the leg of the seat to the floor, and by a board fastened on the right of the top of the seat and reaching to the table. Under the table a foot-rest, roughly made of boards, is needed.

At first, it will be wise to learn how to set the wheel in motion. Suppose we practice this a few times before beginning to mould. When one is seated on the inclined bench, the left foot on the rest, the right foot starting just below the body, near the outer edge of the wheel, swings the flywheel from right to left. The point of the foot is used for this. Four or five vigorous turns are given, and then the foot, swinging nearer the iron shaft, gives five or six more pushes to the flywheel, and is placed on the foot-rest. Expert potters can turn with the foot while the hands are busy moulding, but we who are beginners will do wisely to start the wheel revolving, then, keeping both feet on the rest, give all our attention to the hand-work, until the slower revolutions warn us that it is time to give the wheel another start. One caution should be given, and it may not be out of place here: Do not work too long a time at the wheel. Half or three-quarters of an hour’s steady work at a time will be enough. After that, leave it for half an hour and you will not get physically or nervously tired; besides, the work will go much better. Have your tools and a bowl of thin slip within easy reach as you sit at the wheel.

In beginning your piece, a lump of clay, say about two pounds, well worked, is made into a ball. Wet the top of the wheel, then rub it off so as to leave the wheel just moist enough for the clay to stick, but not slippery, so that it will slide. The lump of clay, held in both hands, is then thrown firmly on to the centre of the wheel. The bottom of the lump should be well down on the wheel, and it is most important to have it exactly in the centre. The hands are wet with slip, which is also rubbed over the lump of clay with both hands so that it is thoroughly moist.

The wheel is now set in motion as already described, and when it is well started, and both feet are up on the rest, the hands held one on either side of the clay starting close to the wheel, move slowly up the sides of the lump, drawing it up into a cone shape. The elbows should be well braced against the sides of the body, so as to hold the hands absolutely steady, for they should never waver or swing with the wheel, but hold true and firm. If the mass is not exactly in the centre of the wheel, or the cone shape is not even, the hands are again wet with slip, a few drops of which are shaken on to the clay. The thumbs are laid together, and the hands at the bases of the thumbs are pressed firmly down on the clay (as the wheel turns), pressing it again into mound shape. The hands and clay are wet once more, and the wheel started. The clay is now pressed up again into the cone form, taking great care to have the pressure even and slow. The hands should move, after each revolution, not more than a quarter of an inch. When a good cone shape is made exactly in the middle of the wheel, the piece is “centred.” In order to prove that the cone is absolutely in the centre, set the wheel going, brace the arms against the body, and, steadying the right hand with the left, move the forefinger of the right closer and closer to the cone, until it all but touches it. If the figure hits in any one place, that will prove that the cone is not centred, and it must be pressed again into mound shape as already described, but if it just clears it all the way round, the potter proceeds to the next step.

The thumbs, held close together above the clay, are aimed at the exact centre of it, and their ends pressed firmly but lightly in, while the wheel revolves once or twice. This is to mark the centre. The next step is to hollow out the piece. This is also done with the thumbs. The hands and clay being wet with slip, and the wheel started well, the fingers inclose the outer walls of the piece, while the thumbs are pressed into the centre of the clay firmly and decidedly down to within less than half an inch from the bottom. This is something that the potter learns to know almost by instinct—how close he can come to the top of the wheel and yet leave a bottom thick enough to trim and finish.

A form as nearly cylindrical as possible will be the simplest to begin with. Suppose one wishes to make a jar of the shape shown in Fig. 12. The next step is to make the walls of equal thickness, hollowing the bottom more. To do this, the elbows are braced against the sides, and the fingers placed in the position shown in Fig. 13. This is one of the ways in which the hands are made to support each other and work in unison. The different placings of the hands, to accomplish various results, are known as potter’s grips. In this one, the right hand, which remains outside the piece (lying close against it), supports the left by the thumb which rests against it, the forefinger of the right hand having previously been coiled around its thumb (see Fig. 13). The middle finger of the left hand lies against the wall of the piece inside. The piece is thus supported outside and in by a hand.

Starting at the bottom, as the wheel turns, the hands, held steady and firm, rise slowly with each revolution of the wheel. The right presses more than the left, hollowing the bottom and walls of the piece. Slowly, slowly, the hands rise, until the top is reached. If the shape is not quite true, the hands start in the same position at the bottom and again go up, pressing hardest when pressure is needed, and going lightly where it is not necessary to alter the shape. Another position of the hands (see Fig. 14) may be used to press the clay into a narrower form. This must be done with great deliberation and care, however, as too much pressure may make a crease in the clay wall which will spoil the piece. When the walls are of even thickness (not more than a quarter of an inch) and the shape about what one wishes, the top must be finished.

First the edge is cut even. We will use for this the tool shown in Fig. 8.

Holding the tool, which has been wet with slip, firmly in the right hand, brace the left by resting the thumb near where the steel is inserted in the wood (see Fig. 15). As the wheel turns, lay the left forefinger, wet with slip, just inside the top of the piece, and directly opposite (at the point where one wishes to cut the top) run the point of the tool through, till it touches the finger, and hold it steady and firm till one revolution of the wheel has been made. The wheel is then stopped, and the edge that was cut lifted off deftly and quickly.

To soften the edge, hold the forefinger and middle finger of the right hand apart (see Fig. 16). Wet their inner surfaces thoroughly with slip, then, as the wheel revolves, hold them straight and firm (while the left hand steadies the wrist of the right) and press the rounded joining of the two fingers gently but firmly down on the top of the piece, holding it there steadily till one or two whole revolutions of the wheel have been made. If one wishes to have a more flaring top, lay the forefinger of the right hand inside the edge with ever so slight an outward pressure, while the wheel turns once. Before perfecting the bottom, it may be as well to let the piece stiffen for half an hour.

The hoe-shaped tool is used for cutting away the extra clay under the bottom. Set the wheel in motion, then take the tool, well moistened with slip, in the left hand. Hold it firmly with its long edge on the top of the wheel (if it is to be a long and gradual slope into the bottom of the jar), while the right hand steadies the top outer angle of the tool. It is then run in under the bottom and there held till one or more revolutions have cut away the surplus clay.

Should one wish to make a more abrupt line up from the bottom, the process is reversed, the right hand holds the tool, the short side of which is laid on the wheel, while the left hand holds the outside top angle, to steady it.

After an hour or two, when the piece has stiffened somewhat, it may be smoothed, and the form refined or improved, if necessary, with the smooth-edged oval tool of sheet steel. When the wheel is in motion, this tool, moistened with water and bent to fit the curves of the piece, is held in the right hand at right angles with the piece, while the left hand supports the wrist of the right. Too abrupt angles may be softened and roughness removed with this tool. Start at the bottom with it, and move it up gradually, with each revolution of the wheel, lightly, except where the form needs much trimming. The rubber polisher, wet with water, is now passed over the surface in the same way, taking care that it is held at right angles with the piece and the hand that holds it is braced by the other. A stout wire held close to the piece on either side is then drawn under it once or twice to prevent its clinging to the wheel.

The next day, or as soon as the piece is stiff, it is removed to a plaster tile. In finishing the bottom, the wheel is first scraped and wiped clean of all clay; the piece is then placed on it bottom up and centred. This is done by putting it as near the middle as possible by eye; then when the wheel is going well, hold the right forefinger or a wooden tool, well braced, close to the piece. See if it touches at any point, and if so, move that side nearer the centre. Roll four short pieces of rather stiff clay. With two of these make supports on the wheel about an inch high, close to the piece on either side to hold it steady—not close enough to cling to it. Two more supports are placed half-way between the first two.

Get the wheel going well, and holding the hoe-shaped tool so that its middle angle will strike the bottom of the piece about half an inch from the edge, aim it truly and hold it steadily till the wheel has made one or more revolutions, which will mark a circle. Within this line depress the bottom slightly by cutting out a thin layer of clay. This is done with the rectangular sheet steel tool held first near the line, then with each revolution nearer the centre till it reaches it. The potter next cuts his mark on the bottom with a wooden tool, if the piece is not very dry, otherwise it should be made with a pointed steel tool, taking care to bevel the edges of the incised lines.

The jar is finished with a handle on each side. Roll out two strips of clay five and a half inches long; flatten them, and trim the edges. Now mark a place on each side of the top of the jar, so that a line drawn from one to the other would exactly divide the top. Make two other marks in the same way at the bottom, directly under those at the top. These are for guides in attaching the handles. Starting at the top, below one of the marks, criss-cross lines with the steel tool for an inch down the side of the jar. Do this on the other side of the jar, and then, starting an inch above the mark on either side of the bottom, cut criss-cross lines for an inch up the side of the jar. Now take one of the clay strips, brush the upper criss-crossed lines on one side of the jar with slip, and press the end of the strip upon it, working the edges close against the side of the jar with the flat of the nail. The other end of the strip is cut in a long point to fit the form of the jar, and bent into the shape shown in the plate. Wet the criss-crossed lines below it with slip, and attach this end in the same way as the first. The other handle is put on in the same manner.

A mat-glaze of gray green (see Chapter V.) will complete the piece.

Such forms as are shown in Figs. 17 and 18 can be made without any difficulty, and they will be most attractive for short-stemmed flowers—violets, sweet peas, or nasturtiums. A cream-jug (see plate) is comparatively simple. The lip is formed with a deft touch of the finger after the piece is moulded, and the handle added afterward. A dull-green mat-glaze will make a charming finish for this piece. The jar shown in Fig. 19 is more difficult to shape, but it is an excellent one for flowers.

Methods of Decoration