What Are Pottery and Ceramic Vases?

Pottery is one of humanity's oldest arts. The discovery that clay hardened by heat retains a permanent shape may have taken place as far back as 30,000 B.C.E. Examples of ancient pottery exist that were created in Japan in 10,500 B.C.E. This long history is still reflected in the material composition of pottery and ceramic vases made today.

The Difference Between Pottery Vases and Ceramic Vases
The words pottery and ceramic are used together so frequently it would be easy to assume they were interchangeable. They're not - sort of. Our word ceramic comes from the Greek word keramos, meaning pottery. But in modern usage, these two words are applied in different ways.

Pottery is generally used to describe vases that contain fired clay. Pottery can also describe the art of making vases and other objects, or refer to the workshop or studio in which such an artist works.

Ceramic is a much broader term than pottery. Ceramic refers to inorganic and non-metallic materials formed by heat. Most ceramic materials are hard, porous, and brittle. Clay is a ceramic material, but so are bricks and porcelain. Even military armor materials such as boron carbide or synthetic bone fillers such as hydroxyapatite qualify as ceramic.

Ceramics is the general word used for all ceramic products, including vases.

The Composition of Pottery and Ceramic Vases
Many different materials have been used throughout history in the composition of pottery and ceramic vases. Most often these materials are used for their decorative or finishing effect.

Clay, which is essentially stiff, sticky earth, is the primary material in the composition of pottery and ceramic vases. As clay is worked, sand or grog - finely ground fired clay - may be added to give the finished vase a coarse texture or different color pattern.

Vase color is also achieved through material composition by adding metal oxides or carbonates such as potassium carbonate, copper carbonate, red iron oxide, or cobalt oxide.

Other decorative techniques used on pottery vases and ceramic vases include lithography and color banding. Burnishing, meaning polishing by rubbing, will give vases a smooth and shiny surface.

Many vases are also given a decorative or protective covering known as a glaze, a very thin layer or glass coating. Glazing has existed in conjunction with pottery for centuries. Common glazing materials in earlier eras were lead and tin oxide.