IV Craft, clay and kiln · Plate 018
Dipping in slip
Engobe (slip) is a clay-based coating applied to a piece by dipping, pouring or brush. It changes the surface colour and gives a base for decoration.
Priberam defines engobe as a clay-based coating meant to be applied to a ceramic piece; an English glossary adds the purpose, a slip coating applied to a body to give colour, opacity or other characteristics. In Barcelos, glazed red ware is decorated with white engobe, white clay diluted in water, applied when the pieces are properly dry. The engobe is allowed to dry, and only then is the piece glazed. The glaze is now generally bought as a powder and diluted in water into a suspension in which the pieces are dipped.
Nisa shows the dipping version. Red clay is dissolved in water for several hours, adjusted by eye to a fine, slightly thick slip and strained through a silk sieve. The piece is dipped in a set order: first the handles, then the rim and neck, then the body and base; larger pieces are coated with the aplanata, a felt pad. It dries in the sun or indoors until the slip is absorbed, and is then burnished. At Barcelos most potters fire clay and glaze together in one firing, at about 970 degrees Celsius.
Source: dicionario.priberam.org, en.wikipedia.org, cearte.pt, museubordadoebarro.cm-nisa.pt
AI-generated illustration in the manner of the tradition, not a photograph of a specific object.
