A Little Bit of History

The Potbank Dictionary has grown from humble beginnings. I launched it in January 1976 as a regular column in The Friends of Gladstone Broadsheet and my first word was ARK. What a great word to launch it! more>

New Words added!

SORTER not to be confused with SELECTOR, but they often are.  Occupation. Warehouse, glost. Woman (not usually a man, except their boss) employed to chip off the tiny bits of glaze which were stuck to the places where the piece had been supported on kiln furniture, in the kiln. Uses a specially made sorting tool. Go to S here> and page down for more.

DABBER  Equipment. Transfer printing. Decorating Department. Tool used by the transfer printer to force the warmed ceramic colour (the consistency of Marmite!) into the engraved surface of the flat, engraved copper plate. Go to D here> for more.

WORDS OF THE WEEK - 23rd Feb 2015 - POTTERY or CHINA?

POTTERY or CHINA Is it pottery or is it china?  In The Staffordshire Potteries the word CHINA is the name given to a particular and specific POTTERY recipe. For instance it may be fine china, vitreous china, stone china, or bone china. But in the United States the word CHINA is often used to describe all types POTTERY. In The Potteries the word pottery is used like the word china is used in the USA. And then there is PORCELAIN which is another description to get your mind around! It can be confusing. More help about recipes here>

Definitely pottery and definitely not china, but it could be!


WORDS OF THE WEEK - 15 Feb 2015 - JOLLEY & JIGGER

JOLLEY and JIGGER  Jolley = making holloware. Jigger = making flatware.  Look for the OLL in jOLLey and hOLLow and you'll remember it!


WORD OF THE WEEK - 9 Feb 2015 - POTTER'S NOD

POTTER'S NOD A peculiar affliction which potters acquire when jiggering oval dishes or platters. See for yourself on this clip from a 1935 silent film. Please don't giggle.  This is serious!