Throwing Clay: The Art of Making Pottery On The Wheel

by Rebecca Proctor

Overview

Learn how to throw clay on the wheel with this essential guide from one of the UK's leading contemporary studio potters.

Whilst a potter shaping clay on the wheel is both the iconic and familiar image we associate with ceramics, the skill is notoriously hard to learn. Using step-by-step photos and illustrations, Rebecca Proctor shows you how to master the potter's wheel.

With an emphasis on craftsmanship, Throwing Clay demonstrates the specific techniques required to make a range of elegant modern tableware – mugs, jugs, plates and more as well as vases and more complex forms such as teapots. In addition to detailing the processes required to create each piece, Proctor features beautiful examples of finished ceramics from other contemporary makers based around the world.

Including a combination of projects and gorgeous inspirational photographs, Throwing Clay is the ultimate guide for complete beginners and advanced ceramicists alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789943535
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	04/21/2026
Series:	New Ceramics
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Rebecca Proctor is a potter and pottery teacher specialising in wheel thrown tableware and ceramics. Frequently commissioned by chefs and stylists, her pots are created for some of Britain's finest restaurants, as well as being found in beautiful homes all around the world.

Prior to making pottery, Rebecca worked as a design writer and author. A lifelong commitment to craftsmanship, led her to making pots as well as writing about them.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Why throw pottery? Not just how but why? Form and function, skill, repetition, meditation.

Tools

The necessary tools. Different types of wheels.

Clay

How to prepare clay for throwing on the wheel.

Centring

The most important step in all wheel-thrown pottery.

Cylinders

Step-by-step guide on how to throw a cylinder.

Mugs

How to pull and attach a handle to a cylinder.

Jugs

How to make a pouring spout creating a jug.

Bowls

How to throw a bowl.

Plates

Attaching a batt. Throwing a plate.

Trimming

How to trim.

Vases

Forming curves and creating vases.

Lidded jar

Making a lid.

Teapot

Making a teapot.

Striving for Beauty

Looking at form and considering decoration, glaze and firing. Next steps – throwing off the hump or throwing big.

Taking Care

Drying and looking after your pots. Recycling clay.

Glossary

Index