Historical Pot

The assignment was to find a historical pot and create your own inspired by it using coils. I chose a pot from Harappan Culture (pictured above). That one was most likely made on a wheel which is why is is so smooth and even. To make my pot I used white stoneware clay to make coils. I also used tools to attach and smooth the coils into the pot form and then glaze to decorate it once fired.

This pot has bright color and range of value with that color. You can see the texture of the coils and fingerprints from smoothing and pinching the rim. There is unity because it is all the same color and the pot has a nice form. The pot is slightly lopsided so it tilts in one direction. It started out as a circle of clay for the base and then I built up using coils. To have it go out at the bottom I didn't put the coils right on top of each other and then to go back in I did the same thing, but going inwards. The neck was just coils stacked on top of each other. For the mouth of the pot I made a large coil, attached it and used my hands to shape it. To attach all the coils I scratched and uses slip, every three coils I would stop and smooth the inside and outside. Once I was finished it dried out and was bisque fired, after this I glazed it. The bottom 2 coats were pc-27 (Tourmaline) and the top coat was pc-20 (Blue Rutile). To glaze the inside glaze was poured in and then poured out.

This pot was inspired by the Harappan Culture of 2600-2450 BC, but with contemporary decorations. I chose to mix two glazes instead of carving or drawing because I like how the PC glazes show the form of the pot. This project relates to my life because I made it and was inspired by the original in my own way. I am proudest of the shape and how the glaze looks. I struggled with the shape of the pot because I went out and in and then out again, but I like how it turned out. It doesn't look exactly the same, but it definitely looks inspired. I overcame the struggle of construction by just trying it and hoping for the best. Something that bothers me is that I only had time to put one coat of PC-20 over PC-27 which means the color is different than what I expected, but I still like how it looks. If I was to make a pot like this in the future I would focus on the symmetry of the pot, it is pretty lopsided at the top by the neck.