The process of shaping clay by hand without using a wheel is called?

Answer Details

The process of shaping clay by hand without using a potter's wheel is called hand building. Hand building encompasses several manual techniques for forming clay objects, including:

• Pinching - pressing and squeezing a ball of clay with the fingers and thumb to open and shape it into a vessel.
• Coiling - rolling clay into long ropes (coils) and stacking them in layers, then smoothing the joins to build up the walls of a pot or sculpture.
• Slab construction - rolling clay into flat sheets (slabs) and cutting, folding, and joining them to form shapes.

Hand building is one of the oldest methods of pottery-making and predates the invention of the potter's wheel. It remains widely practised in traditional Nigerian pottery, where potters shape vessels using pinching and coiling techniques before firing them.

Throwing specifically refers to shaping clay on a spinning potter's wheel, which is the opposite of what the question describes. Glazing is the process of applying a glassy coating to a fired ceramic piece for decoration and waterproofing - it is a finishing step, not a forming technique. Casting involves pouring liquid clay (slip) into a plaster mould to create a shape, which also does not involve hand shaping.