Catawba Indian Pottery

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Scraping the Catawba Pottery

Scraping is the same as carving. It is at this stage that the piece is really formed. All uneven places are repaired and the walls are scraped down to make them thinner. This is the step where the potter pays close attention to detail. While the potter is scraping large pieces of clay are removed. The potter saves these scrapings as the clay is a valuable commodity and not a scrap is wasted. Some potters scrape their pieces when wet while others prefer theirs to be dry.