additive sculpture: process of creating three-dimensional artwork by adding separate parts to create a whole

banding wheel: a type of wheel operated by hand

bat: disc of plaster, masonite, or wood, on which ceramic ware is formed & dried.  Also used as a flat surface to throw on the wheel

bisque: ware which has had one firing (usually) at a low temperature

bisque fire: preliminary firing, prior to glazing and glaze firing

bone dry: clay, which is past leather hard and contains no moisture

coil: a method of creating pots by building bottom and walls with even, ropelike coils

glaze: a mixture of mineral & man-made powders, which melt & flow at a specific temperature & form a thin, glass-like surface coating

greenware: any unfired pottery

hand-building: forming clay without use of a wheel by using basic hand tools

kiln: a furnace used to fire ceramics

leather hard: partially dried clay, stiff enough to hold form, but still damp enough to be connected to other pieces of clay

needle tool: a small cylindrical rodlike instrument usually of polished steel for creating fine detail work in ceramics

plasticity: the malleability of the body porosity, the degree to which the fired pottery will absorb water and the shrinkage, the degree of reduction in size of a body as water is removed

pug: a mill for grinding and mixing materials, as clay to a desired condition

ribbon tool: a large looped ribbon tool made of iron that can be used for trimming as well as carving

rubber rib: kidney shaped rubber tool used as a finishing tool for smoothing surfaces

serrated rib: metal kidney shaped tool used for creating even texture, also useful for scoring

scoring: scratching the clay surface to make attaching pieces together easier

slab: a method of making pottery in which a thick, flat plate or slice is cut into shapes & joined together

slip: clay in liquid suspension with water & chemicals used to attach clay together

subtractive sculpture: the oldest form of sculpture and involves removing material to create a finished work

throwing: forming pottery on the potters wheel

wedging: kneading clay to release air pockets

wire-cutters: tool with two wooden handles at either end used for taking clay off of the wheel and cutting large quantities of clay