Pinching Technique In Ceramics

The potter s wheel did not appear in history until 4 000 years ago.

Pinching technique in ceramics.

Below are the three most common forms of creating hand built pots. Pinch pots are undergoing a bit of a renaissance these days. I see beautiful pinch pots everywhere these days. The pinching method is to create pottery that can be ornamental or functional and has been widely employed across culture.

Pinch pots are the ideal project for newcomers to hand building with clay. Pessic fent un bol amb la tècnica del pessic es. Pinchpot coiling and slab techniques. A pinch pot is a simple form of hand made pottery produced from ancient times to the present.

However you can make larger pinch pots if you really put your mind to it. Pinching making a bowl with the pinching technique. Handbuilt objects can be produced by pinching balls of clay joining slabs or creating coils. Even today pinching remains a valuable creative and satisfying way to work with clay and can be used to form many types of pieces.

Simple clay vessels such as bowls and cups of various sizes can be formed and shaped by hand using a methodical pinching process in which the clay walls are thinned by pinching. Due to the technique s limitations most pinch pots are fairly small holding perhaps one cup to one and a half cups by volume. But the repetitive act of pinching clay can be pretty hard on the wrists. Handbuilding is working with clay by hand using only simple tools not the pottery wheel.

Even though pinching pots is an ancient technique more and more ceramic artists are taking up pinch pots. Pinching ceramics is usually the first thing taught in a beginning pottery class because it requires very few tools and is a great way to get familiar with the properties of clay and the process of making ceramics. Prior to that pinch and coil construction methods prevailed as the main techniques humans used to form clay. When you put your hands to clay the natural inclination to form shape and ultimately create something from the fine grained soil is inescapable.

The relationship between hands and clay is the basis of the ceramic art form. The pinching technique is easy enough for even young children to learn. Perfecting this technique is a fantastic way to start developing your clay craft skills. Most tutors will start people making pinch pots to get a feel for the clay to develop a sensitivity to the material and its working properties.