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Design Resource
Terracotta Craft of Arcot
An Exclusive Style of Pottery
by
Tools and Raw Materials
Clay is the basic raw material used for pottery. Potter’s wheel is the main tool used to make the basic shapes of the pot. Most south Indian potters use spoked wheels with attached pivots. This type of wheel has a small hole in the upper edge of the outer rim into which the potter inserts a long stick. The potter then rotates the stick faster until the wheel is spinning rapidly.
Some other tools such as bamboo sticks, metal blades and small iron sticks are used to do the decoration work on the clay bodies. A flat wooden bat and a mushroom-shaped stone are used to beat the surface of objects like pots and flat based vessels to acquire the required thickness for the product. For the baking process, Hay and Coconut husk is used, which are spread on the articles and covered with a mixture of mud and water.
