How to Make Goblets

You can create your own goblet at home.

A goblet is a drinking vessel that has a cup, stem and base. The first goblets were seen during the Pleistene age and were made from baked clay. The Britons made a copper alloy goblet during the rise of the Bronze age. Both clay and silver goblets were used during the Roman Empire. It was not until the 5th century AD that a goblet with a fine stem was used by the upper class. Those in lower classes continued to drink out wide stemmed lower class goblets.

Things You'll Need

• Potter's clay
• 8 by 8-inch hard masonite
• Slip
• Artist's paintbrush
• Canvas
• Rolling pin
• Yardsticks
• Craft knife
• Drinking straw
• Scissors
• Empty liter soda bottle
• Plastic bag
• Kiln
• Glaze

Instructions

1. Begin the process of making a clay goblet by constructing the cup. Roll four to five coils of clay, each approximately 3/8-inch thick (the diameter of a pencil). Coils are long, snakelike pieces of clay.

2. Make a perfect 3-inch circle from a clay coil. Cut the coil where the clay joins. Use the front of a fingernail to smooth the seam of the clay together. This coil is the top of the cup. The cup is constructed from the top to the bottom taper.

3. Add four to five rows of clay coiling directly on top of the first coil. Place the fingers of one hand on the inside of the coils. Smooth the outside of the coils with the front of a fingernail. Repeat the process until the cup stands 2 to 3-inches tall.

4. Begin making the taper for the bottom of the cup. Make the taper by laying a coil to the back half of the previous coil. Do this by shifting the position of the new coil so it is not directly on top of the previous coil. Slide the coil toward the inside of the cup. The outer half of the previous coil is visible with half of the new coil hanging freely on the inside of the cup. Add one more coil in this manner and smooth the outside of the cup with the front of a fingernail. Continue the process until the taper of the cup is closed. Note: The tapering process is formed like the surface of a pyramid. Each layer is placed slightly in from the last.

5. Carefully turn the cup over and hold the outside of the cup in your non-dominant hand. Use the front of a fingernail and smooth the inside coils of the cup. Do not squeeze the clay and distort the shape. Brush a coat of slip over the coils on the inside of the cup if the clay will not move easily for smoothing. Note: Slip is made by adding water to potter's clay. The consistency of the slip is a watered down clay that looks like cake batter.

6. Turn the cup back over and sit it on the rim after the inside has been smoothed. Allow the cup to air dry while working on the stem and the base.

7. Place a 4-inch ball of clay on a piece of canvas. Put a yardstick on either side of the clay so there is a 6-inch gap between the yardsticks.

8. Roll the clay out until the rolling pin rolls evenly on both yardsticks to create a 1/4 to 3/8-inch thick slab of clay. Remove the yardsticks.

9. Cut a perfect 2-inch circle from the clay slab. Cut a rectangle from the clay slab 1-inch long and 3-inches wide. Remove the circle and the rectangle from the slab of clay.

10. Place the rectangle of clay on a flat surface so it is 1-inch wide and 3-inches long. Lay a drinking straw on the vertical so one end protrudes 1/4-inch from the bottom of the rectangle. Roll the rectangle around a drinking straw so 3-inches of the drinking straw is covered.

11. Cut off the excess clay and smooth the seam together. Cut off the long end of the drinking straw so 1/4-inch extends past the end of the clay tube. This is the stem for the goblet.

12. Stick one of the ends of the stem through the 2-inch circle base. Smooth the connecting seam between the stem and the circle base.

13. Roll a small coil approximately 1/8-inch thick and wrap it around the smoothed seam between the stem and the base. Smooth the coil to the base and to the stem of the goblet.

14. Turn the base over and look at the bottom. Make sure the straw is poking through the bottom of the base. Carve out a small amount of clay from the center of the base if the straw cannot be seen. Smooth out the edges around the straw. Note: The straw will burn away during firing. It adds stability to the stem as it holds the cup while drying.

15. Place the base on the hard masonite square. Brush a thin layer of slip on the end of the stem (making sure not to cover the hole in the straw). Brush a thin layer of slip over the center bottom of the cup.

16. Roll a coil 1/8-inch in diameter and 2-inches long.

17. Center the cup of the goblet over the stem. Gently push the cup onto the straw extending past the stem. Hold onto the cup.

18. Gently smooth the goblet stem to the base of the cup. Place the 1/8-inch coil around the seam between the cup and stem. Gently smooth the coil to the bottom of the cup and the top of the stem.

19. Prop the goblet cup against a 1-liter plastic soda bottle. Loosely cover the soda bottle and the goblet with a plastic bag. Allow to become leather hard before removing the bag to complete the drying process. Note: Leather hard is when you push against the clay with a finger and no indentations are left.

20. Place the dried goblet into a kiln and fire. Glaze and re-fire.

References

• The Free Dictionary: Goblet
• Chiff: A Brief History of the Wine Glass
• JH Pottery: Coil Construction