Basic Terms of Pottery Production
Primary forming involves the creation of the basic vessel shape. Secondary forming modifies a basic form produced by primary forming. Finishing subsumes the final modifications to details of shape or surface treatment (smoothing and decoration). A potter's wheel is used to throw pottery, using the centrifugal force generated by rotation of the wheel to help raise the walls of the vessel. Wheelmade refers to pottery which is thrown on a potter's wheel. In contrast, a turntable or tournette, often called a "slow wheel," is a support on which the vessel being formed may be turned slowly to regularize shape and to finish. Using the slow rotation of a turntable for shape modification or finishing yields a wheel-finished vessel. Surface traces left by wheel-finishing may be mistaken as evidence for throwing on a potter's wheel (Henrickson 1991). Coiling involves using strips or 'snakes' of clay to build the vessel; slabs of clay may be used instead of coils. Molding involves shaping clay either into or over a form (female vs. male mold; Shepard 1968; Rye 1981).