Forming Processes and

Techniques of Pottery in the

Philippines
Forming Processes and Techniques

 Raw clay consists of true clay particles and undecomposed feldspar

mixed with other components of the igneous rocks from which it
was derived. Usually appreciable quantities of quartz and small
quantities of mica, iron oxides, and other substances. The
composition and plasticity of clays from different sources are
slightly different. To prepare the batch, the ingredients are
combined with water and reduced to the desired degree of fineness.
The surplus water is then removed.
 Shaping the Clay

 The earliest vessels were modeled by hand, using

the finger and thumb, a method still employed by
the Japanese to make raku tea bowls.
 Coiled pottery was an early development. Some
remarkably fine early pots were made in this
way.
 There are six common ways of working with
clay: slab making, coiling, turn modeling or
throwing, hand modeling or anvil-and-paddle
method, cradling, and molding.
 Drying and Firing

 Once bone hard, the shaped clay is ready for firing.

 Firing removes all the moisture from the clay and renders the clay
durable.
 Firing is done either in a kiln; a brick oven, which can be heated to
high temperature by electric open pit, a depression in the ground
into which the clay objects are covered with flammable material,
like wood, coconut husks, and fronds, then fired.
 The time of firing and cooling depends on the material.
 Stoneware takes 12 hours to fire and 12 hours to
cool.
 Fired pieces are called bisque.
 Bisque can be the final stage in the creation of
pottery, or itcan be glazed-that is, covered with a
vitreous solution thatrenders the piece
impervious.
 At times, bisque are decoratively painted with
enamel paints.
 Terra-cotta pieces made by the different
ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines
consist largely of cooking utensils, stoves,
decorative items, and toys. Cooking pots are
made by following three methods: hand
modeling (anvil-and-paddle method), turn
modeling (thrown method), and a combination
of methods (hand modeling, molding, coiling,
or slab building).
 Hand-modeled pots follow similar methods

 Starting the piece involves taking a lump of clay and putting it on a flat surface , such as a board , dish , or winnower.
 The lump is shaped into a ball among the Ibanag and Pampango, or anelongated shape among the Cebuano.
 This lump is opened by means of the thumb or fingers by the Bontok,Bukidnon, Cebuano, and the Mandukayan Kalinga.
 Then the body of the pot is built.
 The Bontok hollow the rounded clay with their hands as do the Mandukayan Kalinga.
 The Ibanag,Bukidnon, Tausug,Pampango, and Cebuano use a paddle and anvil to enlarge the pot and thin its wall.
 The anvil used by the Pampango, Cebuano,and Tausug is of stone.
 The Mandukayan Kalinga use their hands to shape the pot and press its walls thin, then the inside is smoothened by a curved piece of bamboo.
 A coil of clay is attached to the pot's opening to form a rim; but among the Ibanag and Cebuano, a paddle is used to put out the rim.
 As the potis turned once around, the paddle set at a 120-degree angle creates the rim.
 Finishing involves decorating or smoothing the surface of a vessel.
 For smoothing, a damp cloth. stone, or paddle is used.