In this exhaustive introduction to ceramics, all the materials, equipment, and techniques of the craft are presented clearly and accessibly. An easy-to-follow text is accompanied by hundreds of color photographs and schematic drawings that illustrate every material, technique, piece of equipment, and step-by-step demonstration.

The book begins with a history of ceramics that covers techniques and styles from various periods and parts of the world. Then clays and glazes are introduced, with details on the diffrent types and their compositions, as well as instruction on how to prepare them. Next, kilns, kiln furniture, potters' wheels, and other equipment and tools are illustrated and thier uses demonstrated. The core of the book is dedicated to presenting the full range of ceramic techniques: hand-building, molding, throwing, glazing, and firing. In the final section, step-by-step projects show how to employ these techniques to create a variety of vessles and sculptural forms.