A landmark survey of the formative years of American studio ceramics and the constellation of people, institutions, and events that propelled it from craft to fine art

This volume is part of the Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceeding (CESP) series. This series contains a collection of papers dealing with issues in both traditional ceramics (i.e., glass, whitewares, refractories, and porcelain enamel) and advanced ceramics. Topics covered in the area of advanced ceramic include bioceramics, nanomaterials, composites, solid oxide fuel cells, mechanical properties and structural design, advanced ceramic coatings, ceramic armor, porous ceramics, and more.

This book covers techniques of firing and finishing at low temperature without using glazes. Many ancient cultures and contemporary potters use methods of low firing, adding slips and burnishing pieces to create a more natural finish. The advantages are that it can be done without a kiln using old dustbins, pits dug out of the earth, or bonfires, meaning that providing you have outdoor space, it can be done on a low budget. This book is a step-by-step practical approach and beginner's guide, which focuses on how to do low firing and natural finishes, with many illustrations of beautiful work by contemporary makers. Chapters include burnishing, terra sigillata, smoke-firing, pit-firing, saggar firing and raku techniques.

Tracing the artistic development of renowned potter Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011), this masterful study celebrates and analyzes an artist who held a significant place in the post-World War II craft movement in America. Born in Hawaii of Japanese descent in 1922, Takaezu worked actively in clay, fiber, and bronze for over sixty years. Influenced by midcentury modernism, her work transformed from functional vessels to abstract sculptural forms and installations. Over the years, continued to draw on a combination of Eastern and Western techniques and aesthetics, as well as her love of the natural world. In particular, Takaezu's vertical closed forms became a symbol of her work, created through a combination of wheel-throwing and hand-building techniques that allowed her to grow her vessels vertically and eased the circular restrictions of the wheel. In addition to her art, Takaezu was renowned for her teaching, including twenty years at Princeton University. This beautifully illustrated book offers the first scholarly analysis of Takaezu's life work and includes essays by Paul Smith, director emeritus of the American Craft Museum, and Janet Koplos, former senior editor of Art in America. Jack Lenor Larsen, a textile designer, author, collector, and advocate of traditional and contemporary craftsmanship, provides a foreword.

This volume includes 46 contributed articles from the Advanced Ceramic Coatings for Structural, Environmental and Functional Applications and the International Symposium on Advances in Ceramic-Metal Systems symposia. Topics include processing and microstructure design, mechanical and thermal properties, advanced testing and non-destructive evaluation, wear, erosion and corrosion behavior, functional properties and modeling. A significant portion of the contributed articles focus on current state-of-the-art industrial applications of ceramic coatings and ceramic-metal composites.

Issues for 1955 accompanied by supplement: Construction volume and costs, 1915-1954.