How to Make Lidded Pottery Containers

Series Summary

People have been making pottery bowls, figures and other clay ware for centuries. Pottery vessels created to carry food or water date back as far as 10,000 BCE in Japan and North Africa, and were originally hand built and fired in bonfires. The potter's wheel was developed around 6,000 BCE in Mesopotamia and completely revolutionized pottery production. Made from sand, grit, crushed shell or other crushed vessels, pottery clay could be be molded by adding water. Clay bowls, cups, plates and vases are then fired in a kiln to create a permanent change in the clay, increasing strength and hardness.

In this free video series our expert potter will demonstrate how to make lids, handles and spouts for your pottery containers. If you have already learned how to make cups, vases and pitchers on the pottery wheel and want to add an extra flair, let our expert show you how to create the perfect addition to your clay vessels. You will get step-by-step instructions on how to make pulled pottery handles, thrown lids, and beaked pottery pitcher spouts. This video series is a great addition for any intermediate pottery artist, or beginners looking to advance.

Video Transcript

"So the three things we are going to focus on today would be handles and the handles are for a mugs or for pouring pitchers. We are also going to be talking about spouts of pouring pitchers, this one is called the beak spout. There is also a more traditional spout which you just pull out, this one is attached. We are also going to be talking about different kinds of lids. There is a kind of lid that this jar has which the lid actually has a flange on the top of the cover. There is no flange on the inside of here and it just sits on top of it. Another kind of lid is this type which sits in what is called the gallery sits right in there. There is another here like that and there is another one, there is many different shapes and sizes. This is also a different type which is much smaller, I made a long stem there and let it sit inside this tomari bottle."