Definition Of Burnish In Ceramics

Burnished pottery should not be used for food or drink with few exceptions.

Definition of burnish in ceramics.

Today modern potters are burnishing pottery to create works of great beauty. Burnishing pottery is a technique in which clay is polished to a beautiful sheen without the use of glaze like this piece by carol molly prier. Burnish definition to polish a surface by friction. Many ancient peoples used burnishing to make their pottery harder and more waterproof before they discovered the use of glazes.

Contemporary potters can also use burnishing to great effect. Burnished pottery has a very beautiful earthy feel and look. After firing the surface is extremely shiny. Burnishing pottery is rubbing the surface of the clay body with a hard object to achieve an even and polished surface.

Burnish definition is to make shiny or lustrous especially by rubbing. There is one very important point to keep in mind. Burnishing is a form of pottery treatment in which the surface of the pot is polished using a hard smooth surface such as a wooden or bone spatula smooth stones plastic or even glass bulbs while it still is in a leathery green state i e before firing. Ancient potters used these techniques to produce their wares before glazes and kilns were developed.