• extraction terracotta - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Extraction

    1
  • grinding terracotta - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Grinding

    2
  • kneading terracotta - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Kneading

    3
  • terracotta production - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Realisation

    4
  • drying terracotta - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Drying

    5
  • cooking terracotta - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Cooking

    6
  • wetting terracotta - ancient Mariani Mital furnace - Impruneta

    Wetting

    7
[ Processing ]

The Posteggiatura

The oldest of the processing techniques

Parking is the oldest of the techniques and is done entirely by hand, without the aid of any shape or mold. It is also the most difficult technique, being entirely entrusted to the skill and experience of the craftsman. Before starting, a drawing is made that reproduces the features of the vase and the relative measurements, taking into account the fact that the material, when drying, is reduced from 8% to 10%. The processing starts from a support surface, in terracotta or wood, on which the "foundation", or the base of the object, is created by using a "hub" of earth, that is a clay ball, which is flattened with the hands to give it a circular direction, and leaving it a little raised at the sides so as to be able to attach the "wick" well: the clay, in fact, before being used, must be spread on a surface and given a elongated shape, like a long stick (or "worm"), called "wick".

[ Processing ]

By Shell

The artifact is made with the help of a shape

In the shell processing the artifact is made with the aid of a form, once in terracotta, today mostly in plaster, which is sprinkled with earthenware powder to prevent the clay that is being used to form the vase. you "attack". The clay is pressed from the outside following the methods of the previous technique, or by "parking" the wick around the form. The element remains stationary while the person, proceeding backwards, turns around pressing the clay on the shape itself. The element remains stationary while the person, proceeding backwards, turns around pressing the clay on the shape itself. Once this phase is finished, the vase is immediately turned upside down on a support surface, then the shape is extracted.

[ Processing ]

In Cast or Mold

Cast or mold processing has been used in more recent times

Cast or mold processing has been used extensively in more recent times, between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. It uses modular molds in terracotta, or more commonly in plaster, inside which the clay is manually pressed, in order to reproduce the shape of the product "in negative". When the clay has partially dried, the walls of the external shape, generally equipped with festoons or decorations of different types, are removed, leaving the vase already defined in all its decorations and shapes. At this point the object is smoothed and finished in all its details.