Pottery dates back to around 29,000–25,000 BCE. From that time, pottery has come a long way and today it has became more than just pot making. Overtime it incorporated art through decorating and glazing methods. Glazing does not only apply to food as glazing can also be applied in decorating and glazing of ceramic products, particularly in pottery. Glazing of pots would not make them edible, but it will surely makes these pots look appetizing.

Glazing is a process of coating pottery for decoration and protection. This process is important for earthenware for holding liquids due to its porosity. Glazing renders porous pottery vessels resistant to water and other liquid and there are two ways of glazing pottery.

Salt Glazing

First is by salt glazing. This process became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. This method was commonly used for large-scale production of ceramic wares. Salt glazing works by using our humble and common salt. The high temperature causes the salt to volatize, depositing it on the surface of the ware to react with the body to form a sodium aluminosilicate glaze. The environmental threats of salt glazing finally made this method obsolete.

Ash Glazing

Another method that is used is ash glazing. Ash glazes are of historical interest in the Far East and there are reports of small-scale use in other locations in the United States. This method is now limited to a small numbers of studio potters who value the unpredictability arising from the variable nature of the raw material.

Other Decorating Methods
There are several ways in decorating pots.

• In the clay body, for example, by incising patterns on its surface.
• Under glaze decoration (in the manner of many blue and white wares)
• In-glaze decoration
• On-glaze decoration
• Enamel

Additives

Other ways of decorating pottery is by additives. Additives are incorporated to the clay body prior to forming to produce the desired effect on fired wares. Additives can be sand, contrasting colored clays, colorants, combustible materials and grog which gives the product the required final texture. Contrasting colors of clays and grogs are used to produce patterns in finished wares.

Banding or lining is just another way of creating these wonderful pots. Lining is the use, manually or by machine, of a band of color to the edge of a plate or cup.

Burnishing is commonly used to polish wood and metal, but over the years this method was also introduce to make fine clay wares.

Engobe is a clay slip often white and cream that is used to coat the surface of pottery before firing. This method helps cover undesirable features.

Other methods include the use of gold. All of these methods make decorating and glazing of pottery more artistic.