The Makings of a Soy Sauce Vessel- Day 2- Trimming and Attaching

Before I start to trim the lids I throw a pad to help them stay in place without distorting. I wedge and center the clay before cutting out a line to allow my finger up and under the lid to remove it. I then trim the top of lid following the contours of the inside. After scratching the surface of the tip I apply a bit of slip and then firmly push on a small ball of clay. This ball is then centered and raised to the desired shape of the knob.





Here are the three lids finshed. I bore a hole under the knob to prevent explosion during firing.

Next I cut the spout at a 30 degree angle and punch holes in the marked place on the vessel to allow the soy sauce to flow. The spout and the vessel are both etched and covered with slip before I firmly press the spout into place. Using my fingertips I smooth the clay to make it look like one piece.

Next I pull each handle by hand.
The handles are attached with etching and slip. I used a bit of paper towel to hold some of the weight from the top handle until the clay has time to harden.
All of the pieces are put into my damp cabinet to give the clay time to rest and catch-up with itself. They will sit here for a day or two before being moved to my greenware shelf. There they will stay for a week or two until they are bone dry.