Table of Contents » Chapter 6 : Kilns

Chapter 6 : Kilns

“Of all man’s arts, ceramics deal most directly with earth, water, air and fire – those elements which the ancients considered the essentials of our world. The fire is the key. By its action the soft and formless clay is given hardness and permanence, and a range of color related to the color so the primordial igneous landscape. Without knowledge of the action of fire, the potter’s craft would not exist. Nor would those almost infinitely numerous shards with which we piece together most of the material and spiritual records of early human history.”

– Daniel Rhodes. Kilns; Design, Construction, and Operation. 1968.