Throughout history, man has been in charge of developing different techniques that lead to the manufacture of domestic artifacts. These creations, popular for thousands of years, remain to this day, but as an interesting decorative element. One of these activities is pottery, the art of designing and creating pottery or clay pots; This one was born in the Upper Paleolithic, in small representations of maternal deities, such as Venus punctuated by Dolní Věstonice.
Likewise, the oldest known ship comes from the Jōmon period, one of Japan’s prehistoric times, at least 10,000 years old. It should be noted that, for some ceramologists such as Emili Francés Sempere, it is necessary to distinguish ceramics, which combine sculpture and painting, from ceramics, which are characterized by a more popular and practical tone.
Even so, the materials used in both practices are characterized by being quite similar. In ceramics, for example, a mixture of water and clay, with an almost liquid consistency, is used to join pieces previously made by hand or for decorative purposes, which is called an engobe.
With the evolution of the techniques used in ceramics, a chemical process called levigation was implemented for the preparation of this mixture, which basically consists of the separation of the mixtures, that is, indicating a dispersion of the particles; This is done so that the preparation is much stronger and more durable. For this, other components are added, such as tannic acid. , sodium carbonate or soluble sodium silicate.
In the ceramic industry, it is considered of great importance that the slip does not contain lumps, and its density must be suitable for processing; For this reason, a series of processes are launched in which we seek to measure accurately. In some areas, it is also quite common for all the residues found at the bottom of the pot and into which the potter puts his hands to be called slip, to reduce friction in the molding of the sculptures.
