Surface Alteration - Piercing
The piercing and cutting of decorative designs into ceramic ware has been practiced for centuries, by potters in all parts of the world. While most pierced ware was, and still is, purely ornamental, some of the items, such as lamps, potpourri jars, flower bricks, etc., were functional as well as decorative. During the 18th century, Wedgwood produced pottery cheese molds having pierced sides and bottom, to allow the moisture to escape when the pieces were filled with curds and whey. In the same period, pierced, covered bowls produced were used to hold hot chestnuts, and shallow, pierced bowls were used as egg poachers.Chinese potters developed the technique of piercing to a high degree, producing exquisite lamps, charcoal braziers and the familiar rice ware (pieces pierced with openings in the sizes and shapes of rice grains). The Chinese ware was often based on ivory carvings, and was known as fctling lung," or devil's work, because of the skill involved in its manufacture.
The term "piercing" may be applied to any technique in which an opening is cut through the wall of a ceramic item, but when the pierced design forms a pattern of interlacing lines, or a web or net pattern, it is referred to as " reticu1ated." Reticulated ware is often double-walled, as in the case of teapots, or has a pierced rim extending upward from the body of the piece, called a "galleried" rim.
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May 19, 2012