Form and Surface In ceramics: Coil Vessels

One way to create a vessel from clay, is to coil the material into a vessel from a flat base and smooth the surface as you go. Coiling has been used for thousands of years to create pots to store food and beverages as well as artistic pieces.

The Coil Pottery method is often used to create larger pieces of pottery. Moisture control is critical in this method, this is because if you build too quickly with wet clay it will fall apart and sink, you need to build your form slowly, a few layers at a time.

Smoothing a coiled pot

With larger ceramic forms, the artist and admirer has a wonderful opportunity to discover the textures of the pottery surface. Naturally in the coil pottery process, pinches and other marks are left on the surface, however the addition of stamping, carving, and burnishing can be used to bring additional emotions and provide interesting perspectives to the piece.

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My own experience with this method included using a grog clay. This type of clay is robust as it has a high percentage of dry particles to wet material, this means it is less likely to crack and drys quickly, it also makes the clay gritty and adds tooth. Therefore the result is a more rustic looking texture than the smooth surface of stoneware clay.

I drew up a scale design and tried to follow it closely, however it is more difficult that you may expect and my vessel ended up a lot larger. My vessel also sunk due to building too quickly and making the top section too thick with the neck of the bottle not being strong enough to support it.

If I was to repeat this method I would keep the thickness and speed of the build in mind. With practice I think I could make even larger vessels than this one and with more finesse.