Fig. 9. Inserting thumb
Figs. 10-13. Processes of throwing
Fig. 10. Making cylinder
Fig. 11. Making bowl
Fig. 12. Making jar
Fig. 13. Making bottle
The first task in fashioning a vase on the wheel—or “throwing” it, as it is technically called—is to center the ball of clay on the wheel-head. It is accomplished by pressing the left hand against the ball of clay as it revolves rapidly, care being taken to keep the left forearm absolutely rigid (fig. [6]). The right hand is used for keeping the clay wet by sprinkling it with water, and for pulling the clay inward, thus squeezing it up to a cone. The cone is pressed up and down in this manner several times (figs. [7] and [8]). When the ball runs perfectly true, it is time to open it by inserting the thumb in the center (fig. [9]); then by placing the fingers of one hand inside the hollow, and the fingers of the other on the outside,[6] and by raising both hands gradually several times and squeezing the clay lightly while so doing, a cylinder is formed (fig. [10]). The cylinder is the foundation of all other shapes. For to produce a bowl, one need only pull out the cylinder a little at the top (fig. [11]); to make a globular jar, pull it out at the bottom and in at the top (fig. [12]); to fashion a long-necked vase, pull it out at the bottom and in at the top, leaving enough clay to spin the top into a tall, narrow cylinder which will serve as a neck (fig. [13]); and by various other manipulations one can produce almost every variety of shape. To throw a vase to specific measurements, a careful drawing of the shape should first be made and calipers and measuring sticks kept close at hand for checking the work as it proceeds.
The earliest Greek vases are made by hand; but from the Early Minoan III and Middle Helladic I periods (i.e., about 2200 B.C.) in certain places at least, vases were regularly thrown on the wheel. They could not have the regular and symmetrical outlines they have if they were built by hand, and many would show traces of vertical joints if they were made in moulds.
That the processes of throwing were identical with those described as in use today, there is of course no means of determining; but they certainly must have been similar, as clay has not changed its nature from Greek times to ours. The evidence which we glean from representations on Greek vases of potters at work, scanty though it is, bears out this self-evident fact. From the above description it will be noted that in this work of throwing the simultaneous use of both hands is necessary—an important fact to remember when interpreting scenes to be related to the fashioning of vases.