Technologies Explained | Bronze Age Beaker Making
Bronze Age Beaker Making
Published: 3rd August 2010
This page shows how Bill Crumbleholme, the Beakerfolk potter, makes his replica Bronze Age Beakers, by joining a ring onto a pinched base.
A small round lump of clay is held in the palm of one hand and the other thumb is pressed into it, to make a hole!
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The clay is rotated and the hole is enlarged, both downwards and outwards, by squeezing the thumb against the fingers on the outside.
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The pot is continually rotated and thinned out into a bowl. If it starts to crack a little water is painted on and left to soak in, the cracks are then smoothed over. If the rim cracks it it compressed together both inwards and downwards to reform the clay, it can then be squeezed out again. It strengthens the form if the pot's diameter is reduced by collaring it - squeezing it in a throttling way all around, to maintain the circular shape.
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Another piece of clay is worked on the same way, but without a base, to form a doughnut ring. The base of that ring is then flattened out and a groove dug into it, to open out a flange of clay on both the inside and outside of the ring. That is then washed with a little water to aid sticking. The rim of the base is then squeezed to produce a knife edge, which will fit into the groove of the next ring.
If the pieces are still damp and too floppy, they are left to dry for a while, so that they stiffen up and will not distort when handled and joined together. Meanwhile another set of bases and rings are prepared.
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The base is then placed on the ring, having ensured the diameters are the same!
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The whole is then turned the right way up and the flanges are bent down over the inside and outside of the base. That forms the tongued and grooved joint, which is much stronger than a simple flat join.
Pressure is then applied across the joint, squeezing the flanges together and flattening the joint. The join is then smoothed over by smearing the clay down diagonally across the join, to fill in the gap. The pot wall is then squeezed some more, to continue the thinning process and to adjust the shape. It is left to dry and thus stiffen a bit more.
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The surface is then smoothed by a series of actions, depending on how smooth it was to start with. If necessary the surface is scraped with a blade to remove any lumps sticking out, dipples can be beaten out from the inside, with extra clay added if the wall is too thin. The surface is then brushed with clay slip, to smooth over any marks and fill any gaps.
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The pot is left to dry a bit and then the decoration is applied by impressing a comb into the clay, to leave a row of dots. Those are then repeated in herring bone patterns around the pot to form a variety of decorative motifs.
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