Good to know -
techniques, materials, rubrics!
Genre / Category
In the context of the „Internationalen Keramiktage Oldenburg“ , the term "unique vessel" is associated with special, artistic vessels.
In the context of the „Internationalen Keramiktage Oldenburg“ , the term "sculpture/object" refers to ceramics that are not subject to any function.
The term "utility ceramics" is used in the context of the "International Ceramics Days Oldenburg" to refer to handmade ceramics which, no matter what form they take, are primarily geared to function.
Material
Terracotta comes from Latin and means "fired earth". Terracotta refers to a specific category of ceramic products made from gray,
Designation for a ceramic material made of feldspar, kaolin and quartz, with dense, light-coloured to white shards (term for a fired ceramic mass)
Designation for ceramics which, with or without glaze after the firing process above 1200° C, has a hard, solid and dense body (term for a fired ceramic mass).
Term for low-fired ceramics (below 1100° C) with coloured body (term for a fired ceramic mass), which is porous and water-permeable after the firing process.
Firing Technology
Smoke firing is a method of burning ceramics in open fires that has been in use since early times. People from different cultures and regions of the world used it to harden their ceramics and still do so today.
It refers to firing in a closed container (capsule) of refractory material in which the ceramics are placed.
In fossil fuel furnaces fired with oil, gas, wood, coal or coke, the fire occurs in an open flame and reducing atmosphere.
Raku is an old firing technique from Asia, in which the low fired (approx. 1000 °), bisqued and glazed ceramics are taken out of the kiln red-hot and cooled shock-like in natural materials like leaves or sawdust and then quenched in water.
In fossil fuel furnaces fired with oil, gas, wood, coal or coke, the fire occurs in an open flame and reducing atmosphere.
Thanks to its modern technology, the electrically powered kiln is a relatively safe firing method that can be used to fire at high temperatures.
Surface Technology
Shino refers to a genre of ceramics that originated in Japan in the 16th century and is still highly prized today for its tactile and visual qualities.
Seladon refers to grey-green to blue-green thickly applied feldspar glazes whose special colouring comes from iron oxide.
The salt glaze is an approach glaze. While other glazes are applied before firing, the salt glaze is created during firing.
Crystal glazes are glazes in which crystals grow in the glaze during the firing process. They are formed during the cooling process and solidify with the glaze.
Glaze is a glass-like layer which, from a purely functional point of view, is mainly used to provide the porous shards underneath (term for a fired ceramic mass) with a waterproof, dense coating.
This genre of pottery was born out of a desire to copy the brilliant white porcelain that could not be made in Europe until the 18th century because of a lack of kaolin.
Engobe refers to a mixture of finely slurried clay liquefied with water, which is applied to raw or also bisqued ceramic workpieces for decoration.