Traditional folk
pottery has always been a part of Indian life and ceremonies. From pre-historic times,
there has been an abundance of beautifully fashioned utilitarian pottery Different
varieties of pottery like red, black, buff and grayware were often painted with black and
white pigments or decorated with geometrical incisions.
 Domestic
pottery comes in a bewildering profusion of attractive shapes and sizes.
The process of pottery - modelling and shaping of clay, drying it and firing it, is one of
the most ancient crafts surviving today. Clay can be categorized as primary clays, which
includes China clay, Bentonite and secondary clays, which include common clays, red clays,
ball clays and fire clays. The potter throws the painstakingly kneaded clay into the
centre of the wheel, rounding it off, then spins the wheel around with a stick. As the
whirling gathers momentum, he begins to shape the clay into the required form. When
finished he severs the shaped bit from the rest of the clay skillfully, with a string.
 The
firing is done in an improvised kiln, the quality and beauty not being affected. Intricate
glaze is made from a mixed composition, fired to form a vitreous material with glazed
surface, then coloured by different mineral substances. Pottery is generally classified as
earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, in relation to the clay used and the firing
temperatures.
Distinctive earthenware is produced in various parts of India. There is the Delhi blue
pottery made from porcelain; the famous Jaipur hand-painted blue pottery noted for its
delicate decoration painted with brush made of squirrel's hair; Alwar pottery noted for
its paper thin shapes; Ikaner pottery is tinted with lac colours to which gold paint is
added; Khurja pottery from Uttar Pradesh with its use of colours like orange, brown, and
special light red, floral designs in sky blue; Rampur surahis or waterpots noted for their
green-blue glazes and Chunar pottery noted for its brown slip, interspersed by a number of
other tints; Kangra in Himachal rich in claywares mostly black or dark red; Khanapur in
Belgaum noted for its thin variety of pottery with designs etched on the body; Vidi in
Kutch abounds in white clay and noted for its soft white pottery; Saurashtra pottery for
its likeness to sandalwood paste; Dal gate pottery from Kashmir where the glazes resemble
the cracks of a batik surface; Goa earthenware with its deep rich red velvety surface; the
highly artistic Karigari pottery from south Arcot with its original colours of green,
yellow, brown and blue glazes, also used for making superbly shaped and coloured water
jugs. Indian pottery true to nature in the directness and simplicity of its form and
utility, has conformed not only to an aesthetic ideal but also to eloquent expression of
the material.
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