Approaching Pottery Burnishing through Experimental Firings

This study assesses the impact of firing on burnished ceramic surfaces. For this task, two main factors related to burnishing were examined and evaluated, the reflection of the ceramics and pottery surface sheen. Macroscopic observations on the burnished surface were made with the naked eye. A serie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEXARC journal no. 2024/3
Main Author Georgia Kordatzaki
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published EXARC 01.08.2024
Subjects
ceramics
furnace, kiln or oven
greece
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Summary:This study assesses the impact of firing on burnished ceramic surfaces. For this task, two main factors related to burnishing were examined and evaluated, the reflection of the ceramics and pottery surface sheen. Macroscopic observations on the burnished surface were made with the naked eye. A series of experiments was conducted to explore the ways in which traditional firing conditions affect pottery surfaces. Data was gathered from four different firings, including three open-air dung firings and one wood-firing in an updraft kiln. Additional testing was carried out under controlled conditions in the laboratory. The aim was to further investigate and determine the specific thermal characteristics that influenced the burnished pottery and use the feedback to approach burnishing disturbance in traditional conditions. The data showed that certain thermal profiles and characteristics cause a reduction in burnishing on ceramic surfaces, with the rise in temperature, among others, being a significant one. The type of clay also proved to be an important factor regarding the way in which the reduction in burnishing progresses. The present inquiry constitutes the first part of an ongoing research project that will be completed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis of the microstructure and surface micromorphology of the ceramics.
ISSN:2212-8956