Ceramics By
Michael L. Birolin
English IV 3rd block Mr. Ganey October 24, 2017
History of pottery, benefits of pottery and importance of pottery and ceramics. . 1. Introduction
A. Ceramics is important in people’s day to day life, it benefits a person’s well being, and the specific process of making pottery.
B. History, Benefits, and Importance of ceramics/pottery. 2. pottery history.
A. Pottery began around 29000 bc.
1. Pottery originated before the Neolithic period.
2. Pottery many used for vessels to store food and water.
3. The use of vessels made pottery one of the most useful skills to have and clay one of the most wanted resources.
B. How pottery is used in modern day.
1. Handmade pottery is mainly used for esthetic purposes.
2. Machine made pottery is usually for usable dishes; such as plates, bowls, and cups.
3. Pottery hasn’t changed all that much in the last 40000 years, but we will always have the need for it and the resources for it.
3. Importance of ceramics and pottery. A. Mechanical importance
1. Used in heat resistance surfaces. 2. Used in most fiberglass.
3. Important in most machinery for smooth motions, such as bearings. B. Importance ceramic in consumption and art.
1. Utensils, bowls, cups etc, ceramics is used in most of our dishes. 2. Art involving ceramics, such as statues, sculptures, vessels etc.
3. Ceramics and pottery is so important for discovery of the past, helping us understand ancient civilizations and the past of our ancestors.
4. Physical and mental benefits of Pottery. A. Mental benefits.
1. Helps with some disorders like depression, Bipolar, and reduces stress. 2. Can greatly increase your creativity and focus.
3. Can help you to become more sociable and can improve your optimism. B. Physical benefits
1. It works out your wrists, hands, and arms. 2. Improves hand-eye coordination.
3. Strengthens Motor skills. 4. Conclusion
English IV
October 25, 2017
Ceramics
Imagine something that can used for a lifetime. Imagine something made from the earth; something made from the dirt of of this planet. Ceramics, pottery, and clay, are some of the most basic building tools. Tools that people have used for thousands of years. Early humans used underground kilns used to fire the clay and make vessels for storage, and clay is still used today because it is such a quickly renewing resource, as it is constantly made from the turning of the ground. People still continue to use clay today, not only for our tableware, but even in things like engines and space ships. Not only are factory-made ceramic items crucial to our lives, but the art of handmade ceramics can be a valuable skill for many people, for example, doctors can use it for therapy to help people with disorders, and it is amazing for expressing creativity. Ceramics has been important in people's daily lives since the beginning of civilization; it benefits a person’s well being, and humans will always need it.
The use of ceramics began as early as 24,000 BC (Guire). Early pottery was fired from kilns which were partially underground (Guire). Around 14,000 BC, communities began
manufacturing tiles in Mesopotamia and India for making buildings and floors (Guire). The first use of pottery vessels to hold food, water and resources is recorded between 9,000 and 10,000 BC (Guire). Glass believed to be discovered in Egypt around 8,000 BC (Guire). In 1500 BC it is believed to be the time glass was produced independently of ceramics and fashioned into
developed in the 16th century...” this helped the manufacture of mass produced ceramics (Guire). Halfway into the 19th century, ceramics started being used for insulation for buildings (Guire).
Earthenware, “is the longest-established type of pottery, dating back to the Stone Age. Although its composition can vary significantly, a generic composition of earthenware clay is: 25 percent ball clay, 28 percent kaolin, 32 percent quartz, and 15 percent feldspar. It is the softest type, being fired at the lowest temperature” and is usually used for dinnerware, teacups, and other small items (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”). Stoneware, a more durable type of pottery, was widely used during the Shang Dynasty (c. 1400 BCE). It is called stoneware because of is stone like appearance. It is loved today by many not only for appearance, but for its waterproof nature and the brown color that would develop after being fired (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”). The difference between porcelain and stoneware is very small, porcelain is said to make a chime sound when hit. Porcelain was first made during “Han Dynasty” (206 BCE-220 CE), or later in the era of “Tang Dynasty” (618-906), using “kaolin” (white clay) and ground “petuntse” (a feldspathic rock) (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”).
When the production of pottery and ceramics started to be more and more mass
produced, new techniques for standardizing production were created. Edward Orton Jr. founded the Standard Pyrometric Cone Company in 1896 in order to help the industry monitor and control the firing of ceramic and glass products (School Specialty). A cone, “measures heat, the temperature of the kiln” (Hunt). Cones work as a way to check temperature, as their amount of
Many people were responsible for turning pottery from a utility item to an art form. One famous ceramicist was Bernard Howell Leach, who lived from 1887 to 1979. He was the founder of the British Pottery Studio, one of the largest in the world. Leach attended the London School of Art, then moved to Japan to train under a famous ceramicist named Sjigekichi Urano (Kenzan VI) (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”). Shoji Hamada another famous ceramicist from the same period was a “notable influence on 20th century studio pottery, he trained in ceramic art at Tokyo Institute of Technology under Kawai Kanijiro. Shortly afterwards, he met Bernard Leach with whom he travelled to St. Ives in England” (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”).
Camille Le Tallec lived between 1908 and 1991, and was famous for his “Vincennes and Sèvres style Limoges porcelain,” and for his pottery studio, the “Atelier Le Tallec” (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”). Peter Voulkos, born Panagiotis Voulkos, “was a famous artist noted for his “Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculpture” (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”). Eva Zeisel, (b.1906) born Eva Amalia Stricker, was an abstract ceramicist renowned for her abstract works, which are known all around the world. She designed many glass and ceramic items (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”).
Massachusetts, Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”).
Jun Kaneko, born in 1942, was a Japanese-born ceramicist that was based in Omaha, Nebraska for much of his career. He is noted for his, “series of large-scale sculptures, as well as his large-scale Dango (closed) series of vase-like works.” Kaneko was a member of the
'contemporary ceramics movement,’ and his work is shown in Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He was also a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”).
Hideaki Miyamura, another Japanese-born ceramicist born in 1955, made great strides in glaze work, specifically his “unique iridescent glazes”, which is a glaze where color changes depending at the angle you view the glaze at. His pieces are displayed in several US museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Smithsonian Institute (“Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics”).
Besides being a useful item or an artform, the act of creating pottery has been shown to help people with Anxiety, Depression, and Bipolar Disorder. It also can help children learn valuable skills, such as patience, creativity, and hand-eye coordination. Pottery, especially using a wheel, can also be used therapeutically for people young and old because helps with motor skill, strength, and dexterity, as it gives hands, wrists, and arms a work out (“Why Is Pottery Therapeutic, “Top 10 Health Benefits of Pottery”).
The hands and fingers contain nerve endings that give back a excellent feedback, “so our sense of touch is intimately associated with our hands.” Just using clay can imply extreme therapeutic benefits from the pressure points located in your fingers and hands, and no damage can be caused to skin because of the clay when wet (Neal).
Traditional ceramic, the type of ceramic used for consumption and containing materials like whitewares, dinnerware, sanitary ware, decorative ceramics etc.Glasses, Flat glass, blown glass, container glass, and fiberglass. Structural clay products, bricks, pipes, tiles, etc. Abrasives, Used for grinding, like rnet, diamond, etc”.Cements, concrete road, bridges, dams, sidewalks etc. (“The American Ceramics Society”)
Advances ceramics includes the following. Automotive, “cam rollers, fuel pump rollers,, “spark plugs”, “sensors”, filters, windows, thermal insulation, emissions control, heaters,
igniters, glass fiber composites for door chassis and other components.” (“The American Ceramics Society”). Aerospace, insulation, “space shuttle tiles”,” combustor liners”, turbine blades/rotors, fire detection feedthrough, thermocouple housings, aircraft instrumentation and control systems, ”satellite positioning equipment”, ignition systems, instrument displays and engine monitoring equipment, nose caps, nozzle jet vanes, engine flaps.” (“The American Ceramics Society”).
Chemical/Petrochemical, “thermocouple protection tubes, tube sheet boiler ferrules, catalysts, catalyst supports, pumping components, rotary seals.” (“The American Ceramics Society”). Coatings, “engine components, cutting tools, industrial wear parts, biomedical
bushings, antennas, sensors, accelerator tubes for electronic microscopes, substrates for hard disk drives.” (“The American Ceramics Society”)
Environmental, oxide fuel cells, “gas turbine components”, measuring wheels/balls for “check valves (oilfields)”, nuclear fuel storage, hot gas filters (coal plants), solar cells, heat exchangers, isolator flanges for nuclear fusion energy research, solar-hydrogen technology, “glass fiber reinforcements for wind turbine blades.” (“The Amer.Homeland security/military, “Particulate/gas filters, water purification membranes, catalysts, catalyst supports, sulfur removal/recovery, molecular sieves.” (“The American Ceramics Society”)
People have used ceramics for at least thirty millennia. People will continue to practice the art of ceramics, since it is a part of people’s daily lives and it continues to help people learn important skills, it is a good therapy tool for people with disorders. The importance of ceramics and its benefits helps and will continue to help people in the future.
Works Cited
“Branches of Ceramics.” The American Ceramic Society, 19 May 2014. Web Sept 22, 2017. Ceramics?” Ceramic Art: History of Pottery Ceramics, Visual Arts Cork. Web Sept 22, 2017. Guire, Eileen De. “History of Ceramics.” The American Ceramic Society, Eileen De Guire, 19 May 2014. Web Sept 21, 2017.
Revolution, Health Fitness. “Top 10 Health Benefits of Pottery.” Health Fitness Revolution, 21 Mar. 2016. Web Sept 20, 2017.
Specialty, School. “Pyrometric Cones 101.” Schoolyard Blog | Teacher Resources | School Specialty, Eric Orr, 19 Sept. 2016. Web October 11, 2017. (School Specialty)
Neal, Thomas. “Therapeutic Health Benefit of Pottery Play.” Bukisa Media, 7 May 2011. Web October 11, 2017.
