Pottery

Pottery BSA Supply No. 33314

The Pottery merit badge provides an introduction to pottery making, enabling Scouts to gain skill and understanding from actually creating pottery. Completing the requirements will include hands-on production of a work of art, from start to finish.

Requirements

1. Explain to your counselor the precautions that must be followed for the safe use and operation of a potter's tools, equipment, and other materials.
2. Explain the properties and ingredients of a good clay body for the following:
   1. Making sculpture
   2. Throwing on the wheel
3. Make two drawings of pottery forms, each on an 81/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper. One must be a historical pottery style. The other must be of your own design.
4. Explain the meaning of the following pottery terms: bat, wedging, throwing, leather hard, bone dry, greenware, bisque, terra-cotta, grog, slip, score, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, pyrometric cone, and glaze.
5. Do the following. Each piece is to be painted, glazed, or otherwise decorated by you:
   1. Make a slab pot, a coil pot, and a pinch pot.
   2. Make a human or animal figurine or decorative sculpture.
   3. Throw a functional form on a potter's wheel.
   4. Help to fire a kiln.
6. Tell how three different kinds of potter's wheels work.
7. Visit the kiln yard at a local college or other crafts school. Learn how the different kinds of kilns work, including low-fire electric, high-fire gas or propane, wood or salt/soda, and raku.
8. Explain the scope of the ceramic industry in the United States. Tell some things made other than craft pottery.

Resources

Scouting Literature

Archaeology, Art, and Sculpture merit badge pamphlets

Books

• Andrews, Tim. Raku. KP Books, 2005.
• Atkin, Jacqui. Pottery Basics: Everything You Need to Know to Start Making Beautiful Ceramics. Barron's, 2005.
• Birks, Tony. The Complete Potter's Companion. Bulfinch, 1998.
• Brommer, Gerald F., and Joseph A. Gatto. Careers in Art: An Illustrated Guide, 2nd ed. Sterling, 1999.
• Burleson, Mark. The Ceramic Glaze Handbook: Materials, Techniques, Formulas. Sterling, 2003.
• Cooney, Nicky. Decorating Ceramics: Over 300 Easy-to-Paint Patterns. Sterling, 1999.
• Cosentino, Peter. The Encyclopedia of Pottery Techniques: A Comprehensive Visual Guide to Traditional and Contemporary Techniques. Sterling, 2002.
• Daly, Greg. Glazes and Glazing Techniques. Gentle Breeze Publishing, 1996.
• Gibson, John. Pottery Decoration: Contemporary Approaches. Overlook, 1997.
• Hamer, Frank, and Janet Hamer. The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
• Hopper, Robin. Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose. KP Books, 2000.
• --------. Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface. KP Books, 2004.
• Illian, Clary. A Potter's Workbook. University of Iowa Press, 2003.
• Mattison, Steve. The Complete Potter. Barron's, 2003.
• Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook. Wadsworth, 2001.
• Peterson, Susan. The Craft and Art of Clay: A Complete Potter's Handbook. Overlook, 2003.
• Speight, Charlotte, and John Toki. Hands in Clay. McGraw-Hill, 2003.
• Triplett, Kathy. Handbuilt Ceramics: Pinching, Coiling, Extruding, Molding, Slip Casting, Slab Work. Lark, 2000.
• Van Gilder, Bill. Wheel-Thrown Pottery: An Illustrated Guide of Basic Techniques. Lark Books, 2006.
• Warshaw, Josie. Handbuilding Pottery: Practical Art Handbook. Anness Publishing, 2005.
• Wensley, Doug. Pottery: The Essential Manual. Crowood, 2002.
• Zakin, Richard. Ceramics: Mastering the Craft. KP Books, 2001.
• --------. Electric Kiln Ceramics. KP Books, 2004.
• Zamek, Jeff. Safety in the Ceramics Studio. KP Books, 2002.

Periodicals

Ceramics Monthly
Toll-free telephone: 800-342-3594
Web site: http://ceramicsmonthly.org

Popular Ceramics
Toll-free telephone: 800-331-0038
Web site: http://www.popularceramics.com

Pottery Making Illustrated
Toll-free telephone: 800-340-6532
Web site: http://www.potterymaking.org

Organizations and Associations

American Art Pottery Association
P.O. Box 834
Westport, MA 02790-0697
Web site: http://www.amartpot.org

The American Ceramic Society
P.O. Box 6136
Westerville, OH 43086-6136
Web site: http://www.ceramics.org

The Pottery Studio
Web site: http://www.studiopottery.com

Boy Scout Requirements | Merit Badge Requirements

The Boy Scouts of America

http://www.scouting.org