How to Make a Coil-Built Clay Teapot

Body

• 1

  Work clay on a piece of canvas to keep it from sticking to the tabletop.

• 2

  Take a handful of clay and roll it into a coil by moving two hands across the clay until it forms a 1/2-inch cylinder.

• 3

  Wrap the coil into a spiral and flatten it with your hand to form a 1/2-inch thick base for your teapot.

• 4

  Smooth the top surface of the base with your fingers to join the coils into one continuous surface.

• 5

  Build up the sides of your teapot body by laying more coils on top of each other. Be certain the shape is stable as you proceed.

• 6

  Score each coiled row by roughing the surfaces that connect. Use a large needle or any sharp implement to make cross-hatched scoring marks into the clay.

• 7

  Apply slip to the scored surfaces and press them onto the previous coil. Slip is a clay-and-water slurry mixed to the consistency of honey and easily applied with the fingers.

• 8

  Smooth the inside seams with your fingers to make a continuous contour. The outside of the teapot may be left with the coils exposed, if that is your decorative preference.

• 9

  Curve the walls of your vessel to suit your design by placing each consecutive coil slightly inward or outward of the preceding one.

• 10

  Dry the first few courses to leather hard, so they will hold the rest of the teapot construction. Leather hard is partially dried clay but still damp. This allows more coils to adhere to the growing rim but also forms a stable base with equalized moisture.

• 11

  Wrap your clay in plastic wrap between work sessions, to keep it from completely drying out before completion. Add layers until your pot is the desired height.

Lid

• 12

  Form a coiled lid to fit the opening on top of your teapot. Make it slightly larger than necessary to allow for shrinking of the clay as it dries.

• 13

  Attach a round or other-shaped clay knob on top of the lid. This will give you something to hold onto as you pour from the teapot. Score and add slip to this shape when attaching to insure good adhesion.

• 14

  Drill a hole between the knob and the outer edge of the lid when it is leather hard. This allows air to enter and make easier pouring. Simply turn a drill bit into and through the clay lid.

Spout

• 15

  Build a coiled spout with walls of a similar thickness to the teapot body. This creates uniform drying and keeps it from detaching itself from the body as it dries.

• 16

  Smooth the interior of the spout, so liquid can flow easily out of it.

• 17

  Make your spout higher than the top of the body so it will not leak before being poured.

• 18

  Use a knife to cut a hole for attaching the spout.

• 19

  Score the bottom of the spout form and the edge of the hole and apply slip to both edges as you join them together. Make a smooth bond on both the inside and outside edges of this joint.

• 20

  Wrap in plastic wrap while the spout and body dry together.

Handle

• 21

  Fabricate a sturdy handle from thicker coils. You can braid or otherwise intertwine the coils to make your handle distinctive.

• 22

  Join the handle to the body when leather hard.

• 23

  Score the ends of the handle and the locations where it fits onto the body. Smear with slip before attaching them.

• 24

  Cover the handle and the rest of the pot with plastic wrap to ensure even, slow drying.

• 25

  Dry completely and fire in a kiln according to the temperature guidelines for the type clay you are using.