Clay Vocabulary

1. A shiny surface.
4. The first firing of clay object must go through in which the firing removes all water from clay and makes it hard and dense.
8. Unfired clay.
10. When long ropes of clay of equal thickness are stacked to form a wall and build an object.
13. A glassy coating that is melted onto a ceramic surface. It is used to decorate the piece and to seal the clay surfaces.
17. Rope like pieces of clay of equal thickness.
18. Indenting a line into a flat surface.
20. Typically the second firing of a piece of pottery which has been coated with glass forming materials. The approximate temperature of this firing is 2300 F.
23. Refers to clay which is ready to be fired in the kiln. Clay is very FRAGILE at this stage.

2. Refers to clay that is dry enough to be joined to other pieces or carved without distortion. Clay at this state resembles leather.
3. Clay which has been made flat with your hands or a rolling pin.
5. To rough up or scratch the clay's surface with a tool to join two pieces together.
6. Unfired pottery that is bone-dry and at a state in which clay forms are the most fragile.
7. Not shiny.
9. Kneading clay to remove air bubbles.
11. Clay and water mixed to form pottery glue that is used to "glue" two pieces of clay together.
12. One of the oldest craft techniques in which objects are constructed entirely by hand.
14. Quality of clay that allows it to be manipulated and still maintain its shape without cracking or sagging.
15. Enclosed containers - built of refractor brick and are heated to temperatures from 1500 Fahrenheit to 2340 Fahrenheit in which ceramic ware is fired.
16. The name of clay that has been fired once and is unglazed.
19. An earthy material that is plastic when moist but hired when fired at high temperatures.
21. To bake in a kiln. Firing is a term used for "cooking" clay.
22. Three-dimensional shape and structure of an object.