From the archive record
A Bengali potter digs out clay from the collected blocks at his house and makes handbuild pots at his workstation in Siliguri district. "Handbuilding" is working with clay by hand using only simple tools, not the pottery wheel. Before potters had the wheel, they were creating beautiful pots and clay forms using clay, their hands and fingers, and basic hand tools. Below are the three most common forms of creating hand built pots: pinchpot, coiling and slab techniques. Most do not realize the infinite world of hand building and the artistic possibilities it opens. 1. Pinch Pots :Begin a pinch pot by forming a lump of clay into a smooth sphere that fits the size of the hand. This method is similar to the way the Native Americans shaped clay into useful pots. While holding the sphere of clay,