List of Pottery Terms - B

B

• Ball clay. A secondary clay moved from the parent rock, ball clay is often mixed with other clays and minerals, organic matter are frequently present. Ball clays commonly exhibit high plasticity and high dry strength.(W)

• Band. are lines marked around circular ceramic utensils, plates, jars or lids using any method of decoration which can be applied at all stages of manufacture. Banding is the action of marking a band.

• Bat. Or "batt." Less commonly also known as a "batterboard", thin slab of wood, plaster, or plastic used to support pottery forms during throwing, attached to the head of the potter's wheel by clay body or "bat pins".

• Bentonite. An extremely plastic clay which can be added in small quantities to short clay to make it more plastic.

• Biscuit or occasionally Bisque. Pottery that has been fired but not yet glazed. (W)

• Biscuit fire. Preliminary firing prior to glazing and subsequent firing again.

• Bloating. The permanent swelling of a ceramic article during firing caused by the evolution of gases.

• Blunging. suspending ceramic raw materials in liquid by agitation.

• Body. The structural portion of a ceramic article, or the material or mixture from which it is made.

• Bone Ash. Calcined animal bone used in the production of bone china. (W)

• Bone china. Vitreous, translucent pottery made from a body of the following approximate composition: 45-50% calcined bone, 20-25% kaolin. 25-30% china stone. (W)

• Bone-dry The final stage of greenware dried to a completely dry state and ready to be fired. In this stage, the clay is very fragile, non-plastic and porous.