Preforming on leather hard clay in Thanh Hà village : scraping and smoothing the bottom of cooking pots

The pots have been let to dry for some time after being fashioned on the wheel. Nguyễn Thị Thủy places them back on the wheel (here, the electric wheel) to shape the bottom. On the wheel, a ring of wet clay is placed of around the same diameter as the object that will be shaped. The pots are placed upside down on it. The ring of clay is there to stick them in the right place throughout the process. Nguyễn Thị Thủy scrapes the centre of the base over a 2cm diameter circle. This circle she uses to place her right thumb or finger during the process, to ensure the regularity of the shaving. She first places her thumb there and, using the vòng in her left hand, she scrapes the flat bottom out, until the surface is roughly rounded. Then, she uses both hands on the cái vòng, but still keeps her middle finger at the centre of the pot, and regularises the shape from top to the mid-pot’s height. The edge of the vòng being sharp, it really shaves the surface, taking off long strings of clay from the pots, allowing the potter to shape the bottom of the pot in a regular circular shape. However, it also creates deep striations as it takes off small rocks from the clay. To smooth them, she takes the thicker vòng and presses it on the surface, while the wheel is still running, from top to mid-pot’s height. With the thicker edge, this tool does not cut off the clay, but compresses it, filling the holes and striations on the surface and creates a smooth and almost shiny surface. Because the surface of the pot is still a bit wet, she then uses the blade of a broken knife, called dao, to finish the work properly.