Pit firing is the original method for 'baking clay' that dates back thousands of years ago. The pit fire puts color and pattern on the pots during the process. It is done by making a pit or hole in the ground that is at lest a food and a half deep, and filling it with a combination of saw dust, grass and wood shavings as the first layer. Then, newspaper can be put in to protect the pots or ceramics. Then, it is light on fire. The ceramics put into the pit will get unique imprints from the pit firing, adding a lot of character to the piece.
A foil sagger is a container in which ceramics can be placed in during a firing, or a covering that goes over them, such as aluminum foil. Saggars trap the smoke in with the ceramic, so it can be absorbed by the piece. This process is to drastically change the look of the piece.
Ferric Chloride can be put on the piece during the process. I even read aboutone technique that involved the use of sugar.
Paper sagging is the same as aluminum foil sagging in concept, but typically newspaper is used for this type of sagging. The newspaper is wrapped tightly around the ceramic piece to trap in the smoke, and imprint the pot with a unique design. It's like putting 'mummifying' the piece.
2. What makes these techniques special?
What makes these techniques special is they can always be adjusted by the artist. The length of time that the piece is in the pit fire, and what median is used for sagging the piece greatly influence the overall look of the piece. Any minuscule change in the process can create drastically different results that may be difficult to recreate. This makes every piece special and unique in its own way. There can be a 40% breakage rate with pit firing, making it a very risky process for artists, but one that is rewarding if the cernaics do come out in one piece.
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