A pinch pot is a simple form of hand-made pottery produced from ancient times to the present. The pinching method is to create pottery that can be ornamental or functional, and has been widely employed across culture. The method used is to simply have a lob of clay, then pinch it to the shape desired.
Pinch pots are the simplest and fastest way of making
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
,
[3 Ways to Make Pinch Pots - Pottery Tips by the Pottery Wheel]
thepotterywheel.com, accessed 12 July 2021 simply by pinching the clay into shape by using thumb and fingers. Simple
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...
vessels such as bowls and cups of various sizes can be formed and shaped by hand using a methodical pinching process in which the clay walls are thinned by pinching them with thumb and forefinger. It is a basic pot making method often taught to young children or beginners.
The process begins with a ball of clay. Thumbs are pushed into the center, and then rudimentary walls are created by pinching and turning the pot. The pot is then pushed on a flat surface to create a flat surface, thereby creating the base. A base can be made by rolling three coils and pressing them together, and then onto the bottom of the pot. Pinched, compressed clay may also be used as a base for building coil pots. The base of the pot is less prone to cracking when formed this way.
Thumb pot
In
gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, frui ...
, a thumb pot is a small pinch pot about the size of a
plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...
, traditionally made from a small ball of clay into which the potter has pushed a single thumb to form the interior of the pot. Thumb pots are now also made commercially in large quantities with machinery instead of by hand. They are typically used to grow plants from seed, to be replanted later in the ground or a larger pot.
See also
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Use in Mexican pottery
References
{{Pottery
Pottery