12 Best Pottery Books

Clary Illian explores the design and making of functional wheel-thrown pottery through a series of exercises. Photographs and explanations connect throwing and finishing techniques with questions of form, proportion, and use, including bowls, pitchers, cylinders, handles, and lids.

Bernard Leach discusses the making of studio pottery through materials, forming, glazing, firing, and the judgment of finished work. Drawing on British and East Asian traditions, he presents an account of craftsmanship that connects practical work with aesthetic values.

John Britt explains glazing and firing at cones four through seven, with recipes and examples for studio potters. Mixing, testing, application, firing, and cooling receive attention, alongside color treatments and the variables that influence a glaze's finished appearance.

Robin Hopper examines the design of handmade pots intended for everyday use. Historical and contemporary examples support discussions of proportion, shape, handles, spouts, and other decisions that connect a vessel’s appearance with the way it functions.

Sunshine Cobb teaches ways to construct clay forms without a potter's wheel, beginning with pinching, coiling, and slab building. Photographs and artist examples extend the instruction to templates, molds, lidded vessels, decoration, and other techniques for developing more complex work.

Ben Carter breaks wheel throwing into manageable stages, from preparing clay and centering to shaping and trimming pots. Illustrated instruction and troubleshooting lead into more advanced work, including lids, handles, spouts, altered forms, larger vessels, and decorative finishes.

Amber Creswell Bell profiles more than fifty studio potters from around the world, visiting their practices and creative lives. Photographs and accounts of their work range across functional, decorative, and sculptural ceramics, offering a view of contemporary independent pottery studios.

Susan Halls introduces functional pottery made by pinching clay with hands and simple tools. Photographs and instructions cover basic shapes, handles, lids, surface treatments, and finished projects, showing how modest techniques can be developed into bowls, mugs, and teapots.

Louisa Taylor introduces ceramic materials and the processes used to shape, decorate, glaze, and fire them. Illustrated explanations and examples of artists’ work present handbuilding, wheel throwing, mold making, and other approaches within a broad studio reference.

Jacqui Atkin offers practical advice and troubleshooting for making pottery, from choosing materials and tools to shaping and finishing pieces. Photographs, diagrams, and instructions explain techniques including pinching, coiling, slabbing, and throwing, with suggestions for avoiding and correcting common problems.

Brian Taylor and Kate Doody explore ceramic glazing through works selected for their distinctive surfaces. Organized by color, the book combines artists' intentions, technical descriptions, recipes, and instructions, connecting inspirational examples with the practical choices behind different glaze effects.

Katie Treggiden visits twenty-seven ceramicists in six cities, exploring their studios, work, and sources of inspiration. Profiles from New York, London, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Sydney, and São Paulo present different approaches to contemporary pottery and the creative lives behind handmade objects.