Topic spans: 1970 - 1997
Handmade in Canada: The Art of Craft
When they're created by an artist's vision and crafted by human hands, the objects of everyday life take on a beauty all their own. The 1960s saw a revolution for craft in Canada, as artisans expressed themselves through functional works and collectors came to value the human touch. From quilting, pottery and blown glass to children's toys and folk art, CBC Archives surveys some of the things Canadians make by hand.
13 television clips
How to throw a pot
Broadcast Date: Feb. 16, 1984
After a lifetime at the potter's wheel, making a bowl is second nature for Michael Cardew. He starts by kneading a hunk of brown clay to remove air bubbles, then positions it on the spinning wheel. He drives his thumbs into the clay, creating a depression in the centre. With intense concentration, Cardew pulls the sides up and out to create a bowl shape. The process, known as throwing, is the focus of this clip from the CBC series Hand and Eye.How to throw a pot
• After a pot is thrown, it is removed from the wheel and allowed to dry for a few days until it reaches a leather-like consistency. In a process called turning, it then goes back on the wheel for further shaping using metal or wire tools.• The pot is then ready for firing in the kiln, a very hot oven. After cooling it can be decorated with glaze in a variety of colours, then is fired again to set the glaze.
• Michael Cardew (1901-1983), the potter seen in this clip, was one of England's best-known potters. He began studying the craft while at university, and ran his own studio in the 1920s and '30s, producing practical pieces for home use. He moved to Ghana in 1942 to teach the craft, and in 1945 opened a pottery (a ceramics factory) there. In 1950 Cardew relocated to Nigeria, where he became senior pottery officer in the Ministry of Trade.
• Ceramics, or pottery, is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Archaeological digs have turned up clay pots dating back 10,000 years.
• Clay is the raw material used for making pottery. When moist, it is pliable and easily shaped, and holds its form when dried in the sun or in an oven.
• When the elements feldspar and soapstone are added to clay and fired at a very high temperature, the product is called porcelain.
• Unlike earthenware, porcelain is white in colour and translucent.
How to throw a pot
Medium: Television
Program: Hand and Eye
Broadcast Date: Feb. 16, 1984
Guest(s): Michael Cardew
Host: James Houston
Duration: 5:05
Please contact the Writers Guild of Canada at 416-979-7907 X 5236 if you are able to identify the writer of this clip.
Last updated:
Oct. 19, 2006
Activez le Javascript sur votre navigateur...
13 clips in this topic . page
Radio
10:22
CBC's Peter Gzowski makes a valiant attempt to learn how to knit over the radio.
Topic
Around 1912 a loosely knit group of artists began to paint Canada as they saw it. Sketch boxes in tow, they journeyed all over the country to paint the wilderness with bold colours and a broad, decorative...
How to throw a pot.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Oct. 19, 2006.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]