Glossary Pottery and vessels
Levigation
Also called: levigated
Refining clay by stirring it in water, letting the coarse particles sink and drawing off the fine clay that stays suspended.
Levigation produces a very fine, even clay, suitable for thin walls, crisp shapes and smooth surfaces. Catalogues describe such clay as "well levigated" or "finely levigated", which signals a carefully prepared fine ware. The process can be repeated several times, and settling pits or basins for it are known from pottery workshops around the Mediterranean.
In Cyprus the term is used of Black-on-Red ware, made from well-levigated clay and finished on the wheel, and of many Iron Age jugs. Better-levigated clays are also one of the changes that mark pottery of the Chalcolithic period.
Related terms
- Fabric
The fired clay body of a pot as seen in a fresh break: its colour, hardness, texture and the grains and particles it contains.
- Temper
Material such as sand, crushed rock, chaff or ground-up pottery that a potter mixes into clay to make it easier to shape and less likely to crack.
- Fine ware
Pottery made with care from well-prepared clay, with thin walls and finished or decorated surfaces, mainly for serving, drinking and display.