Slide 1
Firing turns glaze into a glassy coating
A ceramic glaze becomes a glassy surface through firing. It can change a vessel's appearance while becoming part of its material finish.
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Glaze is distinct from the clay body beneath it. A pot's shape and its surface coating can respond differently during making, which is why ceramic descriptions often identify both.
Slide 2
Kiln conditions help determine the colour
A glaze's colour can depend on the conditions inside the kiln. The same colouring material need not produce one fixed appearance.
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An oxidising atmosphere supplies oxygen, while a reducing atmosphere limits available oxygen and changes reactions in the glaze. The fired colour therefore results from materials and kiln conditions acting together.
Slide 3
Underglaze decoration lies beneath the covering glaze
Underglaze decoration is applied before the glaze layer that covers it. Its position protects the design beneath a transparent surface.
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Overglaze decoration occupies a later layer and may require another firing. Similar-looking coloured details can therefore belong to different stages in a pot's production.
Slide 4
Rie could fire the unfired body and glaze together
Lucie Rie applied glazes to unfired pots and fired body and surface together. This differed from biscuit firing: a separate first firing of the clay body.
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This single-firing approach was part of her experimental studio work. The sequence of making was a creative decision alongside the vessel's shape and the appearance of its glaze.
Slide 5
The finish contributes to how the whole vessel is experienced
A ceramic vessel's glaze can carry changes in colour and texture across its form. The surface is part of how the object is experienced.
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Rie's work joins refined forms with experimental finishes. Considering those together avoids treating glaze as an interchangeable decoration added after the meaningful design was complete.
Sources
- A-Z of ceramics
Victoria and Albert Museum
- Lucie Rie: British studio potter
Victoria and Albert Museum