If you burnish at this point, then cover the pot to slowly dry the rest of the way, perhaps even going over it once or twice more with the stone before it dries completely, you can achieve a good polish. Ideally, you want to catch the clay at black hard - when it is almost dry but has not yet changed color. A leatherhard pot will show the marks of your burnishing tool as distinct little ridges, and in drying the rest of the way it will lose most of the shine you give it. Traditional leatherhard, the stage when a wheel-thrown pot can be easily trimmed, is a little too early. Timing can be tricky - you want the pot at the verge of dry, but with just enough moisture in the clay to allow your stone to glide across the clay without scratching it. Some potters find it easier to burnish a pot before it has dried completely. He does switch to a stone to finish the job once the pots are almost dry.īurnishing Leatherhard or Black-hard Clay One of the more unusual burnishing tools I've heard of is used by Wally Asselberghs: he uses burnt-out lightbulbs of various sizes on leatherhard clay, because they are easier to grip. The back of a spoon is a popular tool, though it may leave greyish marks on the clay. Many potters use rubber or plastic ribs for burnishing, particularly on leatherhard pots. You also don't have to worry about the surface chipping or flaking off, and you can get a perfectly smooth surface with no brush-strokes or drip marks.Īny very smooth object can potentially be used as a burnishing stone. Using a stone is more time consuming and takes a lot of practice, but can produce a higher degree of sheen. There are two methods of burnishing clay: rubbing the clay with a polished stone or other smooth object, and coating the pot with terra sigillata (check out this article about troubleshooting terra sigillata!) and rubbing it with a soft material such as a chamois leather. Even the feel of a burnished pot is seductive: while a glazed pot feels hard and cold, burnished clay seems warm and almost soft to touch. Burnished clay can have a surface just as glossy and reflective as any glaze, but behind this glorious surface there is no hidden roughness. Underneath this layer of glaze the rough stony clay is always perceptible, even if not always visible. Glaze is glossy and reflective, but the reflecting surface consists of a millimeter or so of glass covering the clay. The difference which non-potters sense without knowing it - and which fascinates potters - is that the surface of a burnished pot doesn't wear a coat hiding the clay itself from view. Though glazed pottery can be brighter and more colorful, a burnished clay pot has a glow from within and a warmth that glazed pottery doesn't possess. Non-potters naturally assume that all pottery is glazed, and the glossy surface of a burnished pot seems like a different and intriguing sort of glaze. Potters who burnish are often asked, 'what glaze is that?' by curious admirers of their work.

In this post, Sumi Von Dassow explains the basics of burnishing clay, from the tools to use, to a couple of basic techniques. It is hard to resist picking up and handling a piece of burnished pottery. A burnished pot also has a soft, tactile quality all its own. But many choose to finish their work by burnishing because of the subtle, earthy beauty a burnished clay surface possesses. Nowadays, most potters turn to glaze for that purpose.

Historically, burnishing clay was a method used by early potters to make their pottery more watertight and sanitary.

Pottery Making Illustrated Submission Guidelines.Workhouse Clay International ICAN Merit Award.ICAN Making a Difference in Ceramics Award.Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition Award.ICAN Online Juried Show Exhibition Archives.

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