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Low Firing and Burnishing by Sumi Von Dassow

Because low-firing is the most basic of all ceramic techniques, it really treats all your senses. Using just about the lowest possible technical setting, you submit your work to flames and smoke giving you a sense of what the ancients felt when they used fire to create their primitive works. Both ancient cultures and contemporary potters have used low-firing to great effect, adding slips and burnishing pieces to create finishes not possible with any other firing method. Whether using an old garbage can, a pit in the ground, or a bonfire, low-firing is accessible to anyone with an outdoor space. Low-firing and Burnishing provides step-by-step practical information focusing on various approaches to low firing and methods for creating natural finishes.

 
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Potters who burnish are often asked ‘what glaze is that?’ by curious admirers of their work. Non-potters naturally assume that all pottery is glazed, and the glossy surface of a burnished pot seems like a different and intriguing sort of glaze. Though glazed pottery can be brighter and more colorful, a burnished pot has a glow from within and a warmth that glazed pottery doesn’t have. The difference that non-potters sense without knowing it — and which fascinates potters — is that the surface of a burnished pot doesn’t wear a coat hiding the clay itself from view. Glaze is glossy and reflective, but the reflecting surface consists of a millimeter or so of glass covering the clay. Underneath this layer of glaze the rough stony clay is always perceptible, even if not always visible.
A burnished pot can have a surface just as glossy and reflective as any glaze, but behind this glorious surface there is no hidden roughness. Even the feel of a burnished pot is seductive. While a glazed pot feels hard and cold, a burnished pot seems warm and almost soft to touch. Potters who burnish get used to seeing people handle the pots, turning them in their hands and stroking the surface. This is a common and unconscious response to the sensuousness of burnished pottery.
Burnished pottery in history

The archaeological remains of many civilizations bear a resemblance - ancient pottery from China or the Mediterranean region almost seems more closely related in form and decoration to native African or Native American pottery, than to modern pottery from those regions. Now that modern pottery has come full circle to rediscover the beauty of burnished pottery, the history of unglazed pottery around the world is of interest to the modern ceramic artist. You’ll find the history of low-fired work from China, the Mediterranean, Africa and North and South America both informative and inspirational.
About burnishing

There are two methods of burnishing a pot: rubbing the clay with a polished stone or other smooth object, and coating the pot with terra sigillata and rubbing it with a soft material such as a chamois leather. While using a stone is more time consuming and takes a lot of practice, it can produce a high degree of sheen. Discover how this technique is done by the traditional style of the potters of the American Southwest and also at burnishing stoneware/high-fire clay, burnishing a high-talc earthenware clay, burnishing leather-hard or black-hard clay, burnishing on the wheel, burnishing tools, types of clay to use.

 
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Burnishing with terra sigillata

Terra sigillata means ‘sealed earth’ and comes from the name of a type of Roman pottery mass-produced around the first century AD. But the Romans copied the Greek technique used in their famous black and red pottery for hundreds of years before that. Here is a complete guide to making and applying terra sigillata, recipes, and troubleshooting.

 
Smoke-firing and black-firing

Essentially, to turn pots black all you need to do is to smother the fire when it’s hot, and prevent oxygen from touching the pots before they have cooled. This process can take place in a kiln, in an oil drum or metal trash can, or in an open bonfire; it can be done with pots which have been previously bisque-fired, or with preheated dry burnished greenware. Here are demonstrations of firing in a small metal garbage can, placing a bonfire over an oil barrel, firing inside a kiln, and using cow manure (hmmm, better check your zoning!).

 
I got your new book yesterday and couldn’t put it down…finished reading it this morning. Congratulations on such an outstanding job. The detailed and clear descriptions of the processes made me more confident about exploring beyond what I’ve picked up so far. There were new techniques that I now want to try. Some processes that I dabbled with 30 years ago became much clearer after reading the book, so I plan to revisit them as well. Add to all of that such a fine collection of photos, and I think you nailed it with this book!
- (unsolicited email testimonial from a reader to Sumi)

 
Pit-firing

One of the most exciting ways to fire a burnished pot, pit firing allows pots to pick up black and grey marks from smoke and contact with combustible materials, but they can also pick up vibrant warm red, yellow and pink colours from chemicals added to the pit. There are as many ways to pit fire as there are potters who do it. Every potter ends up developing a personal style depending on variables like the type of clay used, the fuel available, the chemicals added and the altitude at which the firing takes place. A pit can be small enough for one person to fill it, or large enough for hundreds of pots, and you’ll find the methods demonstrated a great starting point for what you want to do.

 
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Saggar firing

A saggar is a lidded container used to contain and isolate a pot during its firing, and saggar firing has evolved as a way to achieve a result similar to pit-firing, but one pot or one kiln-load at a time. Saggars contain the fumes around a pot to allow the pot to pick up color. The requirements for saggar firing are minimal compared to pit-firing - a kiln, preferably gas rather than electric, is all you need. Sumi shows examples of artists using clay saggars and aluminum foil saggars as well as a raku kiln which would be fine for one or two pots.

 
Raku firing techniques

While there are many raku firing techniques, horsehair firing and naked raku are both simple, exciting and fun to try out. Here are the complete instructions for exploring both techniques successfully. With horsehair firing, the hairs do not even have to be from a horse as you can substitute a variety hair, fur and even feathers, from the animal kingdom. For the naked raku, with its distinctive raku crackle pattern, recipes and a complete description of the process are included.

 
Finishing touches

Once a burnished pot is finished after firing, some potters like to enhance or protect the surface with some form of wax or acrylic coating. Some want to make their burnished pots even shinier, while others simply want to protect the surface from being stained by dirty fingers or accidental marks. You’ll find the type of finish that works best for you with this explanation paste wax, floor wax or tile sealer as possible alternatives.

 
About the author

Sumi von Dassow makes burnished pottery, teaches at a center for traditional arts, and runs occasional pit-firing workshops. She is a regular contributor and columnist for Pottery Making Illustrated and contributes articles to Ceramics Monthly as well. Her previous books include Barrel, Pit and Saggar Firing (2001) and Exploring Electric Kiln Techniques (2003) published by The American Ceramic Society.

 
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