POTTERY
Place of Origin: Many parts of India. Earliest recorded history- Neolithic Period
Genre: Handicraft. Material- Clay.
Technique:
The process of pottery involves modelling, shaping of clay, drying and firing. Clay can be categorised as primary clay, which includes china clay and bentonite and secondary clay, which includes common clay, red clay, ball clay and fire clay. The potter kneads the clay and then throws the kneaded clay on to the centre of the wheel, rounding it off. He then spinning the wheel around with a stick. As the whirling gathers momentum, he begins to shape the clay into the desired form. When finished, he lops off the shaped bit from the rest of the clay with a string.
For glazed pottery, the intricate glaze is made from a mixed composition, fired to form a vitreous material with glazed surface, and then coloured by different mineral substances. Biscuit coloured pottery with incised patterns.
Traditional Pottery Centres in India:
Maharashtra- Kanpur
Gujrat- Kutch
Himachal Pradesh- Kangra- Black Pottery and Anderta
Punjab, the areas around Ludhiana, Faridkot and Bhatinda
Rajasthan – Pokharan
Uttar Pradesh –Meerut and Harpur
Haryana- Jajjar
West Bengal- Birhum
Glazed Pottery :
Delhi Kurja and Jaipur- blue potery Rampur
For the Trivia Buff:
Pottery was being made in India the Mehrgarh Period, in present-day northwest India and Pakistan.
This pottery was aceramic or unglazed..
Types of pottery of the Neolithic age in India
Red ceramic, area of the Rajasthan Banas (Hematite).
Grey pottery from the basin of the Ganges.
Polished black pottery found in the area of Jariana and Delhi.
Glazed ceramics began in India in the 12th century, brought by the Muslim rulers.
Examples of fine glazed ceramics of Persian models with Indian designs have a great beauty and detail in the finish. This technique adopted since them by Indian potters was and still is very popular and very well commercially appreciated.
Sources :
Paramparik Karigar Archives
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/pottery.htm
http://www.indianmirror.com/crafts/cra5.html
