Jingdezhen, China - Trimming Porcelain Pieces

Professional trimmer trims porcelain pots throwin in the JCI-WVU studio in Jingdezhen, China.

[@clifforddalton3067]

Throwing is a great skill, but don't forget "trimming" is also a great skill. In many situations the skill of the trimmer can transform a lovely pot into an exquisite work of art ceramic. I love trimming equally as much as I love throwing, the 2 skills go together perfectly. Thank you for sharing the skill of this guy with us, he's obviously a very talented person :) More than I can say about the camera operator though! hehe Cliff from London UK :)

[@TonyWiseCeramics]

Thanks for joining the conversation, trimming can be a crucial and difficult skill to do well. I see that you commented on the camera efforts about a year ago as well, thanks for the feedback, I do the best I can and will continue to improve my skills.

[@plugrun]

throwing can take up to 10 years even 2 30 years to learn , but trimming only takes a few years you can do it very well , i'm from Vietnam and I really want you to do a little research about Bat Trang pottery, where I live

[@migzz7976]

Sick! Also very beautiful.

[@eijonasson]

So enchanting. Could watch this all day.

[@amberlilatari1632]

The way the shaved clay is shooting out!!!! Incredible!!!

[@doodscollection]

Amazing skill

[@james87106]

Beautiful Technique in the birthplace of porcelain, thank you from US.

[@d.jensen5153]

The two attempts I've made to throw a pot were both disasters. Now I realize I was doing it wrong. Just plop a giant ball of clay on a bat, leave it to dry to leather hard stage, then turn it like on a lathe. Centering problems magically disappear!

[@xiazheng7408]

Whoever does Chinese pottery should be really proud of their self because that looks and probably is very very hardworking

[@edstud1]

That wheel is spinning fast!

[@zeroflowne]

Do you know why it's brushed with water a few times?

[@TonyWiseCeramics]

Hey Chris, the bowl that they are trimming is bone dry. They put water on it to trim those areas faster. When I was working with this clay it was very thixotropic, it would start to set up and as soon as you got it moving again it would become very soft. For large bowls they trim the outside and the inside, it was fascinating watching this person bend their tool to fit their trim shape. At the end, the trimmer is using a razor blade on bone dry clay to get a smooth trimmed texture. Hope that helps!

[@cunard61]

Incredible craftsmanship. I was wondering if the shavings from these pieces get recycled for use in another porcelain piece?

[@TonyWiseCeramics]

Pretty much all of the clay that we used here was recycled. Clay would be dumped into a recycle, "trough," and then someone would empty the trough once every couple of weeks. Handbuilders would take these shavings and turn them into very fine slip for connecting joints.

[@cunard61]

Thank you, it's very good to know that nothing is going to waste, and that such an ancient art is being maintained right up to this present day.

[@DixieFlyer2727]

Awesome.

[@adgepipkin2715]

I could smell the silicosis from here

[@elhadjiamadoujohnson4166]

How can one give this a dislike?

[@SaxonSuccess]

Watch me! I just did.

[@priyankamehra8000]

his one finger is totally blue

[@ayeshabarbhuiya4457]

nice

[@larryslemp9698]

Pretty much speechless.

[@robertcoyle1532]

Some one should turn them on to Laguna B-mix... :-)

[@LIFELOVER715]

The whole bowl had to be trimmed, inside & out. The art of throwing the ceramic piece with SOME accent rimming is of the highest value. That would demonstrate a higher level of skill.

[@tonyvoice8813]

i can see the leg hair😂

[@robertcoyle1532]

Wouldn't it be easier just to throw a thinner bowl??

[@TonyWiseCeramics]

Robert Coyle Ah, my good sir, you have apparently never thrown with Jingdezhen porcelain. Let's just say that visitors call it cream cheese! Either way, I always consider this a great example of how there are many ways to do many different things. I show my students so they know this method exists and to demonstrate that there are other creative solutions beyond what someone has be taught. Cheers!

[@jedidiah72]

Tony Wise Can't they let the clay dry out a little longer before they through it?

[@TonyWiseCeramics]

jedidiah72 They could, that's just a bit of an inefficient way of working. I know that sounds backwards having seen what you just saw. Rather than making the material easier to work with, costing them more time (money) in processing, they spend the time to make their skills better. The throwing part is very, very skilled. However, even with dryer clay you can only get large forms so thin before they want to buckle on themselves. By throwing bowls instead of molding them the workers would have to trim anyway. So why not save a bit of time in the throwing, drying and wedging and just spend a little extra in trimming? Makes things easier for 3 different people. Does that land? I hope I explained that well.

[@Ulrna]

Robert Coyle no, the porcelain clay is to elastic. It would just slide down like a piece of wet cloth.

[@kraythe]

Porcelain has no grog in it, nothing to hold it up. You can get away with much thinner pieces in stoneware than you can in porcelain. Throwing thinner is time consuming, delicate and can have a high failure rate. As a result often large production shops will throw thicker and trim, being more efficient.

[@clifforddalton3067]

need a new camera man. haha

[@SaxonSuccess]

Couldn't watch more than a third of this. Dreadful video skills. Too much zoom, and hopeless focusing combined to make it an uncomfortable experience. And get a tripod.

[@kheeekho]

looks crappy

[@trealNoOne]

White girls enjoy watching crappy things

[@elhadjiamadoujohnson4166]

Lebo Mojo go hide!!!

[@nationalist5422]

Your mom is crappy.

[@terrijacobsen]

R u nuts