How to Make a Lid to a Clay Pot

Clay pots are shaped on a potters wheel.

Lids are made for clay pots to make them more functional and in some cases more decorative. Lids should be made at the same time as the clay pot to allow the clay for both the pot and lid to dry at the same rate with similar shrinkage. The most important factor in creating a lid for a clay pot is to gain an exact measurement of the diameter required for the lid to make it fit snugly on the pot.

Things You'll Need

• Potters wheel
• Potters clay
• Potters calipers/tape measure

Instructions

Wheel

1. Create the clay pot on the potters wheel to the desired size, usually a little larger than required to allow for shrinkage. Where the lid will sit within a recessed lip, an extra thick lip on the clay pot should be made during the pulling up, shaping and thinning processes.

2. Press downward and inward with the thumb at a right angle to make a lip on the walls of the pot. Measure the diameter of the recessed lip on the walls of the clay pot with potters calipers or a tape measure. This should be completed quickly before the clay begins to dry and shrink.

3. Make a small indentation in the base of the clay before throwing and molding the lid. This allows a stem for a knob or handle to be attached to the lid.

4. Throw the ball of clay for the lid directly onto the wheel and pull up or down, or cut away and add clay until the correct size of lid has been made. During this process the lid should be compared to the measurements of the pot for accuracy.

5. Make two or three lids to ensure one with the correct dimensions is created. The clay pot and lid should be dried slowly to remove all moisture from both the pot and lid.

Tips & Warnings

• To dry the clay pot and lid the materials can be wrapped in newspaper to aid the drying process.

References

• JH Pottery: Slab Construction
• Clay Times: Pottery Forming Techniques