What is pottery? Pottery is objects shaped from clay and then hardened by firing in a kiln, most often vessels such as bowls, mugs, plates, jars and vases. The same word names the craft of making those objects and the workshop where a potter makes them. Firing is the step that turns soft clay into permanent ceramic, and the three main types of pottery (earthenware, stoneware and porcelain) differ mostly in which clay is used and how hot it is fired.
This guide is research-based. We compared encyclopedia definitions (Britannica and Wikipedia), published mineral data, clay makers' firing ranges and the Orton cone chart. It is written for beginners who want the plain picture before buying clay or booking a class.
What is pottery? A plain definition
Britannica describes pottery as one of the oldest and most widespread decorative arts: objects made of clay and hardened with heat. In everyday speech the word has three meanings:
- The objects: "a shelf of pottery" means fired clay pieces, usually containers.
- The craft: "I do pottery" means shaping clay by hand or on a wheel, then drying, firing and often glazing it.
- The place: "a pottery" can also be a workshop or small factory where clay ware is made.
Pottery sits inside a wider family called ceramics, which also takes in bricks, tiles and technical parts made with no clay at all. Our guide to what ceramics is covers that wider field, and the ceramics vs pottery comparison sorts out how the two words are used.
What makes something pottery
Three things have to come together: clay, a shape, and enough heat to change the clay for good. Leave out any one of them and you have something else, such as a lump of clay, a dried model or a craft piece.
Clay
Pottery clay is a natural mineral material made mostly of very fine particles of clay minerals such as kaolinite, usually blended with silica and feldspar. When it is wet it bends without cracking, which is why it can be pinched, coiled, rolled or thrown on a wheel. Potters buy it ready-mixed as a "clay body" that is rated for a firing temperature.
A shape
The clay is formed by hand, on a potter's wheel or in a mold, then left to dry slowly. Dry, unfired clay is called greenware. It looks solid, but it is fragile and turns back into mud if it sits in water.
Heat
Firing is what makes pottery permanent. Kaolinite, the main mineral in many clays, loses its chemically bound water at around 1,020 to 1,110°F (550 to 600°C), according to published mineral data, and after that change the clay can no longer be softened back into mud. Higher up, the particles start to fuse, and near its rated cone a clay body becomes hard and dense.
A kitchen oven tops out at about 500 to 550°F (260 to 288°C), far below that point. That is why air-dry clay and oven-bake polymer clay are not pottery in the strict sense, even when the finished piece looks like a pot. If you have no kiln, our guide to making pottery without a kiln explains the real options.
Types of pottery
Pottery is grouped in a few different ways: by the clay and its firing temperature, by how the piece was formed, by what it is for, and by how the surface was finished.
By clay: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain
These are the three main types that potters and encyclopedias name. The rough modern firing ranges below are the ones Wikipedia gives; in a home studio they map onto Orton cones, which is how clay makers label their bodies.
| Type | Rough firing range | Typical cones | After firing | Everyday examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthenware | About 1,830 to 2,190°F (1,000 to 1,200°C) | Cone 06 to 04 | Porous unless glazed; red, buff or white | Terracotta planters, majolica, brightly glazed dishes |
| Stoneware | About 2,010 to 2,370°F (1,100 to 1,300°C) | Cone 5 to 10 | Dense, strong, low absorption | Mugs, dinnerware, baking dishes |
| Porcelain | About 2,190 to 2,550°F (1,200 to 1,400°C) | Cone 6 to 10 | White, hard, can glow through when thin | Fine tableware, cups, delicate vases |
For reference, cone 6 is 2,232°F (1,222°C) on the Orton chart for self-supporting cones heated at 108°F an hour, and most home electric kilns are set up for cone 6 work. Our types of pottery clay guide explains each clay body, how to read a spec sheet and which one to pick first.
By how it is formed
- Hand-built pottery: pinch pots, coil pots and slab pieces made with hands and simple tools. See hand building pottery for the techniques.
- Wheel-thrown pottery: round forms pulled up from a spinning, centered lump of clay. See wheel throwing for beginners.
- Molded and slip-cast pottery: clay pressed into molds, or liquid clay poured into plaster molds. This is how many factory pieces and hobby-shop blanks are made.
By use
Functional pottery holds food, drink, plants or household things. Decorative pottery, such as sculpture, ornaments and many raku or pit-fired pieces, is made mainly to look at. Architectural pottery covers wall tiles, roof tiles and terracotta panels. The lines blur often: a handmade vase can be useful and still be art.
By surface and firing style
A piece can be glazed (covered with a glassy coating that is melted on in the kiln), left unglazed (bare terracotta or burnished clay), or marked by the firing itself. In raku, salt, wood and pit firing, flame, smoke or vapor colors the surface, so the same pot can come out looking very different depending on how it was fired.
How pottery is made, step by step
Whether a mug comes from a factory or a spare-room studio, the sequence is much the same.
- Prepare the clay. Moist clay is wedged, a kind of kneading that removes air pockets and evens out the moisture. Trapped air can make a piece crack in the kiln.
- Form the piece. Hand-build it, throw it on a wheel or press it into a mold.
- Refine at leather hard. Partly dried clay is firm enough to trim a foot ring, attach a handle or carve, yet still soft enough to cut cleanly.
- Dry to bone dry. The piece dries slowly, often over several days under loose plastic, until it no longer feels cool or damp. Drying too fast causes cracks.
- Bisque fire. A first firing, often around cone 06 to 04, makes the clay hard but still porous so it can soak up glaze. Our bisque firing guide covers the schedule.
- Glaze. Glaze is dipped, poured or brushed on. The foot is left bare so the pot will not stick to the kiln shelf.
- Glaze fire. A second firing at the clay's rated cone melts the glaze into glass and matures the clay body.
Some potters single fire, putting glaze on unfired clay and firing once, and some outdoor methods such as pit firing skip glaze entirely. For home and community studios, two firings is the normal routine.
What pottery is used for
Most pottery made by hobby potters becomes everyday ware: mugs, bowls, plates, planters, vases, spoon rests, butter dishes and trinket trays. Fired clay is also used for tiles, beads, ornaments, garden pieces and sculpture.
Being pottery does not by itself make a piece fit for food. A mug is suitable for drinks only when its clay is fired to the right cone and its glaze is one the maker labels food safe, applied and fired as the maker directs. Unglazed earthenware and most raku or pit-fired work stay porous and are better kept for display or dry goods.
A short note on history
Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies. The earliest known pottery vessels, from Xianren Cave in Jiangxi, China, are dated to roughly 20,000 years ago in the research Wikipedia summarizes, and fired clay figurines are older still. The potter's wheel, glazes and high-fired porcelain came thousands of years later. Our history of pottery page tells that story in full.
Pottery words beginners hear first
- Clay body: a ready-mixed clay with a stated firing range, such as "cone 5 to 6 stoneware."
- Wedging: kneading clay to remove air and even out moisture.
- Throwing: shaping clay on a spinning wheel.
- Greenware: any unfired clay piece, from soft to bone dry.
- Leather hard: the firm stage when clay can be trimmed and joined.
- Bisque: clay after its first firing; hard but porous.
- Glaze: a coating of minerals that melts into glass in the kiln.
- Kiln: the insulated chamber that fires clay.
- Cone: the scale potters use for firing heat; cone 06 is low fire and cone 10 is high fire.
Common beginner mix-ups
- "Air-dry clay pieces are pottery." They look like pottery but are never fired, so they stay fragile and soften with water.
- "A hot oven can fire clay." No kitchen oven gets near firing heat, and trying it can crack or burst damp pieces.
- "All pottery is waterproof." Bisque and unglazed earthenware soak up water. Density depends on the clay and the firing.
- "Glazed means food safe." Food safety depends on the glaze label, the clay and correct firing, not on having a shiny coat.
- "Pottery means a wheel." Pinch, coil and slab work is pottery too, and many beginners start there.
- "Ceramics is a different hobby." A class listed as ceramics usually teaches the same pottery skills.
Safety basics for new potters
Dry clay and glaze dust contain crystalline silica. Clean with a damp sponge or mop rather than sweeping, keep dust down by working wet, and wear a NIOSH-approved respirator when mixing dry clay or glaze powders. Read the maker's safety data sheet (SDS) for any glaze or raw material you use.
Kilns get very hot on the outside as well as inside. Follow the kiln maker's clearance and ventilation rules, use the volts, amps and breaker size the maker states, and have a licensed electrician check or install the circuit. Never assume a glaze is food safe on your own pots; go by the maker's label and fire to the stated cone.
What you need
To try pottery properly you need kiln clay that matches the cone of the kiln that will fire it, a basic tool kit, buckets and sponges, and a firing option such as a community studio. Our guide to starting pottery at home sets out the space, budget and first month, and our best clay for pottery guide compares beginner-friendly clay bodies.
Sources: Britannica, "Pottery" (definition and kinds of pottery); Wikipedia, "Pottery" (definition, earthenware, stoneware and porcelain firing ranges, Xianren Cave dating) and "Kaolinite" (dehydration temperatures); Orton Ceramic Foundation temperature equivalents chart for self-supporting cones; clay maker cone ratings as summarized on our types of pottery clay guide (AMACO, Laguna); competitor coverage reviewed for topic gaps (Britannica, Wikipedia, Gathered beginner's guide to pottery). Specs checked October 2026.