Commission on Information and Communication Technology

MALACAÑANG

MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 269

CREATING THE COMMISSION ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

WHEREAS, Section 24, Article ll (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) of the 1987 Constitution states that, "The State shall recognize the vital role of communication and information in nation-building.""

WHEREAS, an enabling legal, policy and institutional environment to develop, promote and advance information and communications technology (ICT) is a prerequisite for the continued growth of the Philippine economy, the competitiveness of local industries and firms, and the achievement of national development goals;

WHEREAS, the government recognizes that the development of ICT will have a higher chance of success and sustainability it is private sector-led, market-based and government-enabled;

WHEREAS, the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC), created pursuant to Executive Order No. 264 dated July 12, 2000 and amended planning and policy advisory body on development, promotion and application of national ICT and e-commerce initiatives;

WHEREAS, the creation of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) which will more effectively coordinate and implement national ICT programs, projects and other related initiatives is a priority of government, endorsed by ITECC, supported by the private sector and presently under consideration in Congress;

WHEREAS, as a transitory measure, the formation of a national body that is not merely advisory in nature, and which will have a more active role in streamlining, managing, coordination, and implementing the various ICT-related plans and policies of government, will immediately address the urgent need to harmonize and make the country’s approach to ICT development more coherent and efficient;

WHEREAS, to be effective and efficient, such a national body, headed by a Cabinet ranked official, must be equipped with strong and clearly defined powers, appropriate manpower and resources;

WHEREAS, the creation of such an empowered national body is broadly supported by the private sector, which is keen to work closely with government to encourage ICT-related business and investment, enhance the skills of the country’s workforce, pursue, meaningful legal and regulatory reform, continue to enhance the nation’s information infrastructure, and promote e-governance, consistent with Philippine goals to compete in the global ICT market

WHEREAS, Section 31, Chapter 10, Title lll of the 1987 Administrative Code provides the President with continuing authority to reorganize the bureaucracy;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the power vested upon me by law, do hereby order:

Section 1. Creation.
A new body to be known as the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, hereinafter referred to as the Commission, is hereby created, and attached to the Office of the President

Section 2. Mandate.
The Commission shall be the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating, and administrative entity of the executive branch of Government that will promote, develop, and regulate integrated and strategic ICT systems and reliable and cost-efficient communication facilities and services. In fulfilling its mandate, the Commission shall be guided by the following policies:

1. To ensure the provision of strategic, reliable and cost-efficient information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, systems, and resources as instruments for nation-building and global competitiveness;

"Information and Communications Technology" (ICT) is defined as the totality of electronic means to collect, store, process and present information to end-users in support of their activities. It consists, among others, of computer systems, office systems and consumer electronics, as well as networked information infrastructure, the components of which include the telephone system, the Internet, fax machines and computers.

2. To ensure a policy and legal environment that will promote a level playing field, partnerships between the public and the private sectors, strategic alliances with foreign investors, balanced investments between high-growth and economically-depressed areas, and broader private sector participation in ICT development.

3. To foster and accelerate convergence of ICT facilities such as but not limited to the development of networks;

4. To ensure universal access and high-speed connectivity at fair and reasonable cost;

5. To ensure the provision of information and communication services in areas not adequately served by the private sector;

6. To foster the widespread use and application of emerging ICT;

7. To establish a strong and effective regulatory system that will ensure
consumer protection and welfare and foster a healthy competitive environment;

8. To promote the development of ICT expertise in the country’s human capital to enable Filipinos to compete in a fast-evolving information and communication age;

9. To ensure the growth of the ICT industries;

10. To preserve the rights of individuals to privacy and confidentiality of their personal information;

11. To encourage the use of ICT in support of efforts for the development and promotion of the country’s arts and culture, history, education, public health and safety, and other socio-civic purposes;

Section 3. Composition.
The Commission shall be composed of the National Computer Center, Telecommunications Office (TELOF), and all other operating units currently existing in the Department of Transportation and Communications, which directly support Communications, including the Telecommunications Policy and Planning Office. The National Telecommunications Commission and the Philippine Postal Corporation shall be attached to the Commission.

The Commission shall be headed by a Chairman with a Cabinet Rank. He shall be assisted by the Director-General of the National Computer Center (NCC), and the Chief of the Telecommunications Office (TELOF) who, in addition to their current responsibilities, shall concurrency serve as Commissioners, and shall perform such functions as may be assigned by the Chairman. In addition, he shall be assisted by two additional Commissioners as may be provided in the structure and staffing plan to be determined pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

Section 4. Composition.
Powers and Functions. To carry out its mandate, the Commission shall exercise the following powers and functions:

1. Formulate and recommend national policies and guidelines that will promote ICT and the wider use of the internet and other cyberspace infrastructures and exchanges of universal application, in consultation with the private business sector, relevant civil society institutions, and other private and public entities, such as educational and training sectors;

2. Initiate, harmonize and coordinate all ICT plans to ensure their consistency with national objectives and goals;

3. Establish and administer comprehensive and integrated programs for ICT at the national, regional and local levels with due consideration to advances n convergence and other emerging technologies; and for this purpose, may call on any agency, corporation or organization, whether public or private, whose development programs in ICT are an integral part thereof, to participate and assist in the preparation and implementation of such programs;

4. Design, implement, and ensure the protection of an integrated government information and communications infrastructure development program that will coordinate all existing plans, programs, proposals, software and hardware inventory, and the installed systems and programs;

5. Provide an integrating framework and oversee the identification and prioritization of all e-government systems and applications as provided for in the Government Information Systems Plan; manage and/or administer the e-Government Fund, which shall be institutionalized and included in the proposed annual national budget;

6. Coordinate with concerned agencies, the generation of resources, both
governmental and non-governmental, local, national and international, as may be appropriate in and for the development, marketing, growth and competitiveness of the Philippine ICT Industry;

7. Develop and implement, in coordination with concerned government agencies, a comprehensive ICT application capability in the national government and determine the personnel qualification and other standards essential to the integrated and effective development and operation of government information and communication infrastructure;

8. Encourage and establish guidelines for private sector funding of ICT projects for government agencies in order to fast-track said projects which provide reasonable cost-recovery mechanisms for the private sector, including but not limited to Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mechanisms;

9. In coordination with the Department of Science and Technology, provide strategic direction to government research and development programs in ICT;

10. Establish and prescribe rules and regulations for the operation and maintenance of ICT facilities in areas not adequately served by the private sector, in consultation with private business sector, civil society, and other private and public entities, such as educational and training sectors;

11. Establish and prescribe rules and regulations for the operation and maintenance of a nationwide postal system that shall include mail processing, delivery services, and money order services;

12. Administer and enforce all laws, standards, rules, and regulations governing ICT, and in coordination with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) ensure the protection of ICT-related intellectual property rights;

13. In coordination with concerned agencies, ensure consumer protection and welfare, and protect the rights of consumer and business users to privacy, security and confidentiality;

14. Harmonize, synchronize and coordinate with appropriate agencies all ICT and e-commerce policies, plans and programs;

15. Assist the Department of Trade and Industry in carrying out its functions related to the promotion of trade and investment opportunities in ICT Services;

16. In coordination with concerned agencies, promote strategic partnership and alliances among between local and international ICT firms and institutions; R&D, educational and training institutions; and technology providers, developers and manufacturers, to speed up industry growth.

17. In coordination with concerned agencies, plan and/or implement such activities as maybe appropriate and/or necessary to enhance the competitiveness of Philippine workers, firms, and small to medium enterprises in the global ICT market.

18. In coordination with Department of Education, formulate policies and initiatives with respect to IT education and the development, promotion and application of ICT in education.

19. Perform such other powers and functions as may be prescribed by laws or as may be necessary, incidental or proper to its mandate or as may be assigned from time to time by the President.

Section 5. Agency Responsibilities.
To carry out its mandate and objectives, the Commission shall be complemented by the appropriate agencies and/or offices of government. The Chairman is hereby given direct supervision and control over the following agencies and offices:

1. The National Computer Center (NCC) shall coordinate all-e-government initiatives and the implementation of government IT plans to facilitate better, more efficient, and more transparent service.

2. The Telecommunications Office (TELOF) shall support the development of an information infrastructure with the strategy and direction set by ITECC.

3. Other operating units currently existing in the Department of Transportation and Communications, which directly support Communications, including the Telecommunications Policy and Planning Office, shall be consolidated under the Office of the Chairman.

The Commission shall align its structure to be consistent with the strategic directions established by ITECC, specifically e-government, information infrastructure, legal and regulatory environment, human resource and business development.

The Commission shall also be supported by and coordinate with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the Philippine Postal Corporation (PPC), as may be appropriate for and consistent with this Order. The NTC shall not exercise any power, which will tend to influence or effect a review or an modification of the NTC’s quasi-judicial functions.

Section 6. Structure and Pattern.
The Commission shall submit for approval to the Office of the President the organizational structure and staffing pattern of the Commission within sixty (60) days from the issuance of this Executive Order.

Section 7. Periodic Performance Evaluation. The Chairman is hereby required to formulate and enforce a system of measuring and evaluating periodically and objectively the performance of the Commission and to submit the same annually to the President.

Section 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations.
The Chairman shall promulgate and issue such rules, regulations and other issuances within 60 days from the approval of this Executive Order as may be necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of this Executive Order.

Section 9. Funding.
To carry out the provisions of this Order, funds for the necessary expenses for the operations of the Commission, subject to existing accounting and auditing laws, and procedures.

Section 10. Transitory Provisions.
In accomplishing the provisions herein prescribed, the following transitory provisions shall be complied with:

1. The NCC, TELOF and other units currently existing in DOTC, which directly support Communications, are hereby transferred to the Commission to ensure an effective and coordinated implementation of ICT policies, programs and projects.

2. All regular or permanent employees who shall be affected by this executive order shall not suffer my loss of seniority or rank or decrease in emoluments.

Section 11. Repealing Clause.
All presidential acts, letters of instruction, executive orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Executive Order, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 12. Effectivity.
This Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 12th day of January, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Four.

(Sgd.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

By the President:

(Sgd.) ALBERTO G. ROMULO

Executive Secretary

About Pottery and its History

Pottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today. Ceramic art covers the art of pottery, whether in items made for use or purely for decoration.

Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln to induce reactions that lead to permanent changes, including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape. There are wide regional variations in the properties of clays used by potters and this often helps to produce wares that are unique in character to a locality. It is common for clays and other minerals to be mixed to produce clay bodies suited to specific purposes.

Prior to some shaping processes, air trapped within the clay body needs to be removed. This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine called a vacuum pug or manually by wedging. Wedging can also help to ensure an even moisture content throughout the body. Once a clay body has been de-aired or wedged, it is shaped by a variety of techniques. After shaping it is dried before firing. There are a number of stages in the drying process. Leather-hard refers to the stage when the clay object is approximately 75-85% dry. Clay bodies at this stage are very firm and only slightly pliable. Trimming and handle attachment often occurs at the leather-hard state. Clay bodies are said to be "bone-dry" when they reach a moisture content at or near 0%. Unfired objects are often termed greenware. Clay bodies at this stage are very fragile and hence can be easily broken.

A History of Pottery

The production of pottery is one of the most ancient arts. The oldest known body of pottery dates from the Jomon period (from about 10,500 to 400 BC) in Japan; and even the earliest Jomon ceramics exhibit a unique sophistication of technique and design. Excavations in the Near East have revealed that primitive fired-clay vessels were made there more than 8,000 years ago. Potters were working in Iran by about 5500 BC, and earthenware was probably being produced even earlier on the Iranian high plateau. Chinese potters had developed characteristic techniques by about 5000 BC. In the New World many pre-Columbian American cultures developed highly artistic pottery traditions.

After general sections on basic pottery types and decorating techniques this article focuses on the development of Western pottery since the beginning of the Renaissance. For detailed treatment of ancient Western and non-Western pottery, see Chinese art and architecture; Egypt, ancient; Greek art; Islamic art and architecture; Japanese art and architecture; Korean art; Mesopotamia; Minoan art; Persian art and architecture; pre-Columbian art and architecture.

TYPES OF WARES
Pottery comprises three distinctive types of wares. The first type, earthenware, has been made following virtually the same techniques since ancient times; only in the modern era has mass production brought changes in materials and methods. Earthenware is basically composed of clay--often blended clays--and baked hard, the degree of hardness depending on the intensity of the heat. After the invention of glazing, earthenwares were coated with glaze to render them waterproof; sometimes glaze was applied decoratively. It was found that, when fired at great heat, the clay body became nonporous. This second type of pottery, called stoneware, came to be preferred for domestic use.
The third type of pottery is a Chinese invention that appeared when feldspathic material in a fusible state was incorporated in a stoneware composition. The ancient Chinese called decayed feldspar kaolin (meaning "high place," where it was originally found); this substance is known in the West as china clay. Petuntse, or china stone, a less decayed, more fusible feldspathic material, was also used in Chinese porcelain; it forms a white cement that binds together the particles of less fusible kaolin. Significantly, the Chinese have never felt that high-quality porcelain must be either translucent or white. Two types of porcelain evolved: "true" porcelain, consisting of a kaolin hard-paste body, extremely glassy and smooth, produced by high temperature firing, and soft porcelain, invariably translucent and lead glazed, produced from a composition of ground glass and other ingredients including white clay and fired at a low temperature. The latter was widely produced by 18th-century European potters.

It is believed that porcelain was first made by Chinese potters toward the end of the Han period (206 BC-AD 220), when pottery generally became more refined in body, form, and decoration. The Chinese made early vitreous wares (protoporcelain) before they developed their white vitreous ware (true porcelain) that was later so much admired by Europeans.

Regardless of time or place, basic pottery techniques have varied little except in ancient America, where the potter's wheel was unknown. Among the requisites of success are correct composition of the clay body by using balanced materials; skill in shaping the wet clay on the wheel or pressing it into molds; and, most important, firing at the correct temperature. The last operation depends vitally on the experience, judgment, and technical skill of the potter.

DECORATING TECHNIQUES
In the course of their long history potters have used many decorating techniques. Among the earliest, impressing and incising of wares are still favored. Ancient potters in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, northern India, and the high regions of Central Asia (where primitive terra-cotta figures associated with religious cults were produced) frequently decorated wares with impressed or incised designs. A notable incising technique developed more recently was that of Korean potters working in the Koryo period (918-1392). These artisans began by ornamenting their celadon wares with delicately incised and impressed patterns and later developed elaborate inlaying by filling incised lines with colored slip (semiliquid clay). Black and white slip was used most effectively for inlaying colored porcelains. Decoration of this sort generally depends more on the skill of the artisan than on the complexity of the tools being used.

An especially popular type of decoration involved the sgraffito, or "scratched," technique used by Italian potters before the 15th century. This technique, which is thought to have reached Italy from the Near East, was probably derived from China, where it was first used during the Song (Sung) dynasty (960-1279). By the 16th century Italian potters working mainly in Padua and Bologna had developed great skill in sgraffito, which entailed the incising of designs on red or buff earthenware that had been coated with ordinary transparent lead glaze, usually toned yellow or, sometimes, brown, copper, or green. After firing, the wares were dipped into white clay slip so that a dark pattern could be cut on the surface. By cutting through the white slip, the artist produced a design on the exposed red or buff body. Pigments were also sometimes applied. After a further coating of lead glaze the ware was fired a second time.

A sound knowledge of glazes--both utilitarian and decorative--is vital to the potter. The origin of glazes and glazing techniques is unknown, but the fine lustrous glazes developed in China surely began with a simple glaze that served to cover earthenware and render it watertight. Chinese potters used two kinds of glazes, one composed basically of feldspar, and another produced by fusing silica of quartz or sand by means of a flux, generally of lead oxide.

Chinese potters regarded glazes and glazing techniques as having prime importance; under the Han emperors they made great efforts to improve this technology. The use of lead glaze increased, and wood ash was incorporated to impart a dullish brown or gray green coloring, somewhat blotchy and occasionally iridescent. These effects were entirely natural, as no coloring matter was added to the composition. Glazing techniques were modified under successive dynasties. Colored glazes were developed and used to brilliant effect by Tang (T'ang) and Song potters, and a great diversity of brightly hued wares appeared over the centuries.

Many connoisseurs feel that the pure white porcelain, called blanc de chine, which first appeared during the Ming dynasty, is the most serenely beautiful of all Chinese ceramics. Dehua (Te-hua) potters in Fujian (Fukien) province, working during the 17th century, produced their blanc de chine masterpieces in the purest white porcelain coated with a thick white glaze.

Salt glaze, used by English potters during the early 1700s, may well have been known to the Chinese but was not used by them. Near Eastern potters glazed wares in ancient times. Potters in Mesopotamia and Iran commonly used an alkaline glaze made of quartz mixed with sodium and potassium. An admixture of colored metallic oxides, mostly lead, was introduced later.

Painting on pottery and porcelain became richly colorful in many regions and periods. Decorative brush painting directly on the baked clay reached its zenith in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), whose artists were highly skilled at painting in fired colors. For a long period Chinese ceramic artists had used only black or brown pigment to decorate wares that were then covered with clear glaze. It is believed that the appearance in China of 13th-century brush-decorated wares from Persia sparked a change. These works, painted in blue cobalt under the glaze, inspired the brushwork of the Chinese and the resulting so-called blue-and-white style.

Ming artists also excelled in painting over the glaze, using brilliant enamel colors. The overglaze technique, which evolved over two centuries, demanded correct preparation of the enamels, skill in application, and the proper (low) firing temperature. The overglaze enamel decorations executed during the reign of Chenghua (1465-87), which were never surpassed in China, incorporated flowers, foliage, and figure subjects against backgrounds of arabesques and scrollwork. Designs enclosed within dark blue outlines were filled in with brilliant color. Enamel decoration of superb quality was also executed in Japan during the Edo period (1615-1868) by celebrated artists and potters of the caliber of Kenzan, Kakiemon, and Ninsei.

In the ancient Aegean the potter's art developed continuously from the Neolithic period and through the periods of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, culminating, in ancient Greece, in a unique type of painted pottery, which reached its height between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. The finest Greek pottery, especially Attic vases, was exquisitely proportioned and often decorated with finely painted relief work. Unlike artisans in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia, the Attic potters did not apply heavy glaze to their wares. The unique gloss commonly seen on Attic pottery and similar wares made elsewhere in Greece still baffles those who have tried to determine its formula and method of application. Neither a glaze nor a varnish, it is more marked on some areas, such as those painted black, than on others. Some experts conjecture that it may be attributed to illite or a similar clay mineral in a weak solution that was thinly applied to the surface of wares or mixed into the black "paint" used by the artists.

In the Islamic world ceramic decorative art flowered with the creation of a great diversity of painted wares. Painted luster decoration on pottery originated in Mesopotamia and spread to ancient Egypt; later, under Islam in Persia, this type of decoration on white-glazed wares became incredibly brilliant. Islamic luster-painted wares were later imitated by Italian potters during the Renaissance.

MAJOR TRADITIONS IN THE WEST
After the fall of the ancient Roman Empire potters in Europe produced little other than repetitive utilitarian wares until the end of the Middle Ages.

Earthenware
A distinctive type of earthenware known as majolica, which was derived from Chinese porcelain, appeared in Italy during the last quarter of the 14th century. It is now believed that this type of painted earthenware was inspired by the Hispano-Moresque luster-decorated ware of Spanish origin introduced to Italy by Majorcan seagoing traders.

Majolica ware, whether thrown on the wheel or pressed into molds, was fired once to obtain a brown or buff body, then dipped in glaze composed of lead and tin oxide with a silicate of potash. The opaque glaze presented a surface that was suitable to receive decoration. A second firing after decoration fixed the white glaze to the body and the pigments to the glaze, so that the colors became permanently preserved. Frequently, the beauty of these wares was increased by dipping them in a translucent lead glaze composed of oxide of lead mixed with sand, potash, and salt. When certain luster pigments and enamels were used in all-over painting, wares had to be specially fired at low temperature. Application of metallic luster pigments required great skill because these colors were extremely volatile and needed special handling.

Luca della Robbia (see della Robbia, family) did not, as has been held, invent the enamel tin-glazing process; nevertheless, his work raised majolica production from a craft to high art in Italy. Not only did he use blue and white enamels in decorative work, but, as a sculptor, he also used the majolica technique to add brilliance to the surface of his productions. By the beginning of the 15th century Italian potters had abandoned the old familiar processes, and a revolution in style and techniques was under way. The severe style as followed principally in the school of Tuscany continued to the end of the 15th century, but rules and principles slackened until the inclusion of human figures in designs, previously frowned upon, was accepted. At the end of the 15th century Faenza became the thriving center of a reinvigorated pottery industry in Italy. A new, rich decorative style, known as istoriato, fired the imagination of potters, reaching its zenith in the workshops of Urbino.

In early 17th-century England attractive slipwares were produced, including the slip-decorated earthenware that was a speciality of the Toft family of potters. A kind of tin-glazed earthenware was also produced in the Netherlands, principally at Delft, beginning in the mid-17th century. Termed delftware, it was among the first European wares to be decorated with motifs inspired by Chinese and Japanese models.

Continental Porcelains
Eventually, European potters, who much admired the porcelain of the Far East, attempted to imitate it, but the formula remained elusive. Francesco de Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, produced an inferior type of soft-paste porcelain in his Florence workshop during the 16th century. In March 1709, Augustus II of Saxony announced that his ceramist Johann Bottger (1682-1719) had discovered how to make porcelain. The first European royal porcelain manufactory was consequently established at Meissen (see Meissen ware) near Dresden, Germany. Throughout the century following the discovery of the porcelain formula--when, despite the utmost precautions at Meissen, the secret leaked out--many rival factories were set up in Europe. Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and England soon had factories engaged in the production of wares much like those of Meissen.

Porcelain figures were first produced in Meissen as table ornaments; the earliest examples were formed as part of sweetmeat dishes. Many splendid wares issued from the royal factory, but none were more admired than the finely modeled and decorated porcelain figures imitated by almost every German, Austrian, Italian, and English factory of note. Widespread interest in figures of both pottery and porcelain has continued to the present. Johann Joachim Kandler (1706-75), a master modeler, was the most notable of the artisans engaged in this work at Meissen and rivaled the famous Franz Anton Bustelli (1723-63) of Nymphenburg (see Nymphenburg ware).

The methods used to produce porcelain figures as developed by Kandler imparted a new dimension to the art. German porcelain figures were usually produced from molds, which, in turn, were cast from an original master model made of wax, clay, or, occasionally, wood. The use of molds facilitated unlimited reproduction. Because the figures shrank during firing, allowances had to be made in their sizes; they were also provided with a small venthole in the back or base to permit excess heated air to escape. Because different factories placed these holes differently, their positions help determine the provenance and authenticity of given pieces. When considerable undercutting was necessary, porcelain figures were usually made in sections, using separate molds. Portions of elaborate groups and single figures were later joined by a specially trained assembler (known as a "repairer") who usually worked from a master model.

Europe's second hard-paste porcelain factory began operations at Vienna in 1717. In the late 1700s at the royal Sevres (see Sevres ware) factory in France, potters experimented until they developed a remarkably white, finely textured body. Sevres wares were painted in unique colors that no other European factory could duplicate. The bleu de roi and rose Pompadour of Sevres wares captivated all Europe and, with the products of Meissen and Vienna, inspired English potters.

English Wares
The finest English porcelain--both soft- and hard-paste--was made between about 1745 and 1775. The first English porcelain was probably produced at Chelsea (see Chelsea ware) under Charles Gouyn, but his successor Nicholas Sprimont, a Flemish silversmith who took over management in 1750, was responsible for the high-quality wares, especially the superb figures, for which the factory became famous. Factories at Worcester (see Worcester ware), Bow, and Derby also produced wares that rival those of the Continent.

Led by the ambitious, energetic, and enterprising Josiah Wedgwood and his successors at the Etruria factory, English potters in the late 18th and early 19th centuries became resourceful and inventive. Wedgwood's contributions consisted mainly of a much improved creamware, his celebrated jasperware, so-called black basalt, and a series of fine figures created by famous modelers and artists. After Wedgwood, other potters of the first half of the 19th century developed a number of new wares. Of these, Parian ware was the most outstanding and commercially successful.

The name of this ware was derived from Paros, the Greek island from which sculptors in ancient times obtained the creamy or ivory-tinted marble that Parian ware resembled. The first examples of this new product, described as "statuary porcelain," issued from Copeland and Garret's factory in 1842 and were immediately acclaimed. Two varieties of Parian ware were produced: statuary parian, used in the making of figures and reproductions of sculpture, and hard-paste, or standard, parian, from which hollowware was made. Statuary parian, incorporating a glassy frit, is classified as soft porcelain. Standard parian, with a greater proportion of feldspar in the composition but no frit, is hard porcelain. Early parian statuary was ivory-tinted due to the presence of iron in the feldspar devoid of iron silicate. Suitable deposits were eventually located in Sweden and Ireland. Both English and American potters either obtained details of the original formula or worked out their own, and the resulting production of Parian wares on both sides of the Atlantic was enormous.

Among the most beautiful and successful wares invented by 19th-century potters were those decorated in what came to be known in England as pate-sur-pate, a paste-on-paste technique devised sometime after 1870 by Marc-Louis Solon (1835-1913) of Minton's in England. Pate-sur-pate, involving both modeling and painting techniques, was stained Parian ware decorated with reliefs in translucent tinted or white slip, the colors being laid one upon the other. Solon was inspired by a Chinese celadon case decorated with embossed flowers that he had admired in the museum at Sevres, where he worked for a time. At first his slip painting on biscuit porcelain simply peeled off; he was successful, however, when he applied layers of slip to a damp surface. Minton wares decorated with pate-sur-pate became the most costly and coveted ceramic ornaments produced in England in the last quarter of the 19th century. Only a few English potters mastered Solon's complex technique, although the work of his pupil, Alboin Birks, rivaled that of the master.

20th-Century Developments
By the late 19th century, with the development of machinery and the introduction of new technologies, the age of mass production dawned and the potter's art consequently suffered. Western ceramic wares declined markedly in quality of materials and decoration. Florid designs, gaudy coloring, and inartistic shapes became fashionable, and the resulting decadence continued into the 20th century. Not until the 1930s were signs of revival in the form and decoration of ceramics discernible, principally in the productions of artist-potters who were active in Western Europe and the United States. Many of these artist-potters arrived at their innovations by way of continuous experiment with materials and techniques. Others sought inspiration from primitive types of Japanese pottery or in the forms of ancient American Indian traditions. Since the end of World War II the design and decoration of ceramics in both Europe and the United States, especially ornamental wares, has been largely influenced by individual artist-artisans. Commercial products, such as tablewares, have tended to reflect the styles and patterns developed by these potters, whose work has often shown striking originality.

Charles Platten Woodhouse
Bibliography:
General Histories: Barnett, William, and Hoopes, John, eds., The Emergence of Pottery (1995); Camusso, Lorenzo, and Bartone, Sandro, Ceramics of the World: From 4,000 BC to the Present (1992); Charleston, Robert J., World Ceramics: An Illustrated History (1968); Cooper, Emmanuel, A History of Pottery (1972); Cox, Warren E., Book of Pottery and Porcelain, 2 vols., rev. ed. (1970); Fournier, Robert, The Illustrated Dictionary of Pottery Decoration (1986); Hillier, Bevis, Pottery and Porcelain, 1700-1914: England, Europe, and North America (1968); Ketchum, W. C., Jr., Pottery and Porcelain (1983); Lane, Peter, Ceramic Form (1988); Newman, Harold, and Savage, George, An Illustrated Dictionary of Ceramics (1985); Wildenbaum, M., Pottery: Form and Expression (1986); Woodhouse, Charles P., The World's Master Potters: Their Techniques and Art (1974).
National and Special Histories: Adams, Edward B., Korea's Pottery Heritage, 3 vols. (1986); Allan, James, Islamic Ceramics (1995); Ayers, John, Japanese Ceramics (1994); Bushnell, G. S. H., and Digby, A., Ancient American Pottery (1955); Byers, Ian, Raku (1996); Charleston, R. J., Roman Pottery (1955); Du Boulay, A., Chinese Porcelain (1973); Ellis, Anita, Rookwood Pottery (1992); Godden, G. A., British Porcelain (1988); Honey, W. B., English Pottery and Porcelain, 6th ed., rev. by R. J. Charleston (1969) and French Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century, 2d ed. (1972); Ketchum, W. C., Jr., American Country Pottery (1987); Lane, Arthur, Greek Pottery, 3d ed. (1971); McCready, K., Art Deco and Modernist Ceramics (1995); Poole, Julia E., English Pottery (1995); Savage, George, French Porcelain of the 18th Century, 2d ed. (1972); Snyder, J. B., and Bockol, L., Majolica: European and American Wares (1994); Vainker, S. J., Chinese Pottery and Porcelain (1991); Watson, O., and Clark, G., American Potters Today (1986).
(c) 1997 Grolier, Inc.

Decorating and glazing

Pottery may be decorated in a number of ways, including:

• In the clay body; by, for example, incising patterns on its surface.
• Underglaze decoration, in the manner of many blue and white wares.
• In-glaze decoration
• On-glaze decoration
• Enamel

Additives can be worked into the clay body prior to forming, to produce desired effects in the fired wares. Coarse additives, such as sand and grog (fired clay which has been finely ground) are sometimes used to give the final product a required texture. Contrasting colored clays and grogs are sometimes used to produce patterns in the finished wares. Colorants, usually metal oxides and carbonates, are added singly or in combination to achieve a desired color. Combustible particles can be mixed with the body or pressed into the surface to produce texture.

Agateware: So-named after its resemblance to the quartz mineral agate which has bands or layers of color that are blended together. Agatewares are made by blending clays of differing colors together, but not mixing them to the extent that they lose their individual identities. The wares have a distinctive veined or mottled appearance. The term 'agateware' is used to describe such wares in the United Kingdom; in Japan the term neriage is used and in China, where such things have been made since at least the Tang Dynasty, they are called marbled wares. Great care is required in the selection of clays to be used for making agatewares as the clays used must have matching thermal movement characteristics.

Banding: This is the application, by hand or by machine, of a band of color to the edge of a plate or cup. Also known as lining, this operation is often carried out on a potter's wheel.

Burnishing: The surface of pottery wares may be burnished prior to firing by rubbing with a suitable instrument of wood, steel or stone, to produce a polished finish that survives firing. It is possible to produce very highly polished wares when fine clays are used, or when the polishing is carried out on wares that have been partially dried and contain little water, though wares in this condition are extremely fragile and the risk of breakage is high.

An ancient Armenian urn.

Engobe: This is a clay slip, often white or cream in color that is used to coat the surface of pottery, usually before firing. Its purpose is often decorative, though it can also be used to mask undesirable features in the clay to which it is applied. Engobe slip may be applied by painting or by dipping, to provide a uniform, smooth, coating. Engobe has been used by potters from pre-historic times until the present day, and is sometimes combined with sgraffito decoration, where a layer of engobe is scratched through to reveal the color of the underlying clay. With care it is possible to apply a second coat of engobe of a different color to the first and to incise decoration through the second coat to expose the color of the underlying coat. Engobes used in this way often contain substantial amounts of silica, sometimes approaching the composition of a glaze.

Litho: This is a commonly used abbreviation for lithography, although the alternative names of transfer print or decal are also common. These are used to apply designs to articles. The litho comprises three layers: the color, or image, layer which comprises the decorative design; the cover coat, a clear protective layer, which may incorporate a low-melting glass; and the backing paper on which the design is printed by screen printing or lithography. There are various methods of transferring the design while removing the backing-paper, some of which are suited to machine application

Gold: Decoration with gold is used on some high quality ware. Different methods exist for its application, including:

• Best gold - a suspension of gold powder in essential oils mixed with a flux and a mercury salt extended. This can be applied by a painting technique. From the kiln the decoration is dull and requires burnishing to reveal the full color
• Acid Gold – a form of gold decoration developed in the early 1860s at the English factory of Mintons Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent. The glazed surface is etched with diluted hydrofluoric acid prior to application of the gold. The process demands great skill and is used for the decoration only of ware of the highest class.
• Bright Gold – consists of a solution of gold sulphoresinate together with other metal resonates and a flux. The name derives from the appearance of the decoration immediately after removal from the kiln as it requires no burnishing
• Mussel Gold – an old method of gold decoration. It was made by rubbing together gold leaf, sugar and salt, followed by washing to remove solubles

Glazing

Glaze is a glassy coating applied to pottery, the primary purposes of which include decoration and protection. Glazes are highly variable in composition but usually comprise a mixture of ingredients that generally, but not always, mature at kiln temperatures lower than that of the pottery that it coats. One important use of glaze is in rendering pottery vessels impermeable to water and other liquids. Glaze may be applied by dusting it over the clay, spraying, dipping, trailing or brushing on a thin slurry composed of glaze minerals and water. Brushing tends not to give an even covering but can be effective as a decorative technique. The color of a glaze before it has been fired may be significantly different than afterwards. To prevent glazed wares sticking to kiln furniture during firing, either a small part of the object being fired (for example, the foot) is left unglazed or, alternatively, special refractory spurs are used as supports. These are removed and discarded after the firing. Special methods of glazing are sometimes carried out in the kiln. One example is salt-glazing, where common salt is introduced to the kiln to produce a glaze of mottled, orange peel texture. Materials other than salt are also used to glaze wares in the kiln, including sulfur. In wood-fired kilns fly-ash from the fuel can produce ash-glazing on the surface of wares, and the use of an ash and clay mix can result in alkaline glazes, as used in Catawba Valley Pottery in the eastern United States.

Firing

Firing produces irreversible changes in the body. It is only after firing that the article can be called pottery. In lower-fired pottery the changes include sintering, the fusing together of coarser particles in the body at their points of contact with each other. In the case of porcelain, where different materials and higher firing-temperatures are used the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of the constituents in the body are greatly altered. In all cases the object of firing is to permanently harden the wares and the firing regime must be appropriate to the materials used to make them. As a rough guide, earthenwares are normally fired at temperatures in the range of about 1000 to 1200 degrees Celsius; stonewares at between about 1100 to 1300 degrees Celsius; and porcelains at between about 1200 to 1400 degrees Celsius. However, the way that ceramics mature in the kiln is influenced not only by the peak temperature achieved, but also by the duration of the period of firing. Thus, the maximum temperature within a kiln is often held constant for a period of time to soak the wares, to produce the maturity required in the body of the wares.

The atmosphere within a kiln during firing can affect the appearance of the finished wares. An oxidising atmosphere, produced by allowing air to enter the kiln, can cause the oxidation of clays and glazes. A reducing atmosphere, produced by limiting the flow of air into the kiln, can strip oxygen from the surface of clays and glazes. This can affect the appearance of the wares being fired and, for example, some glazes containing iron fire brown in an oxidising atmosphere, but green in a reducing atmosphere. The atmosphere within a kiln can be adjusted to produce complex effects in glaze.

Kilns may be heated by burning wood, coal and gas, or by electricity. When used as fuels, coal and wood can introduce smoke, soot and ash into the kiln which can affect the appearance of unprotected wares. For this reason wares fired in wood- or coal-fired kilns are often placed in the kiln in saggars; lidded ceramic boxes, to protect them. Modern kilns powered by gas or electricity are cleaner and more easily controlled than older wood- or coal-fired kilns and often allow shorter firing times to be used. In a Western adaptation of traditional Japanese Raku ware firing, wares are removed from the kiln while hot and smothered in ashes, paper or woodchips, which produces a distinctive, carbonised, appearance. This technique is also used in Malaysia in creating traditional labu sayung.

Methods of shaping

The potter's most basic tools are the hand, but many additional tools have been developed over the long history of pottery manufacture, including the potter's wheel and turntable, shaping tools (paddles, anvils, ribs), rolling tools (roulettes, slab rollers, rolling pins), cutting/piercing tools (knives, fluting tools, wires) and finishing tools (burnishing stones, rasps, chamois).

Pottery can be shaped by a range of methods that include:

Handwork pottery in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Handwork or hand building. This is the earliest and the most individualized and direct forming method. Wares can be constructed by hand from coils of clay, from flat slabs of clay, from solid balls of clay — or some combination of these. Parts of hand-built vessels are often joined together with the aid of slurry or slip, a runny mixture of clay and water. Hand building is slower and more gradual than wheel-throwing, but it offers the potter a high degree of control over the size and shape of wares. While it isn't difficult for an experienced potter to make identical pieces of hand-built pottery, the speed and repetitiveness of wheel-throwing is more suitable for making precisely matched sets of wares such as table wares. Some studio potters find hand building more conducive to fully using the imagination to create one-of-a-kind works of art, while others find this with the wheel.

A potter shapes a piece of pottery on an electric-powered potter's wheel

Classic potter's kick wheel in Erfurt, Germany

The potter's wheel. In the process that is called "throwing" (coming from the Old English word thrawan, which means to twist or turn ^[1]) , a ball of clay is placed in the center of a turntable, called the wheel-head, which the potter rotates with a stick, or with foot power (a kick wheel or treadle wheel) or with a variable speed electric motor. (Often, a disk of plastic, wood or plaster — called a bat — is first set on the wheel-head, and the ball of clay is thrown on the bat rather than the wheel-head so that the finished piece can be removed intact with its bat, without distortion.)

During the process of throwing the wheel rotates rapidly while the solid ball of soft clay is pressed, squeezed, and pulled gently upwards and outwards into a hollow shape. The first step, of pressing the rough ball of clay downward and inward into perfect rotational symmetry, is called centering the clay, a most important (and often most difficult) skill to master before the next steps: opening (making a centered hollow into the solid ball of clay), flooring (making the flat or rounded bottom inside the pot), throwing or pulling (drawing up and shaping the walls to an even thickness), and trimming or turning (removing excess clay to refine the shape or to create a foot).

From around 7th century BC until the introduction of slip casting in the 18th century AD, the potter's wheel was the most effective method of mass producing pottery, although it is also often employed to make individual pieces. Wheel-work makes great demands on the skill of the potter, but an accomplished operator can make many near-identical plates, vases, or bowls in the course of a day's work. Because of its inherent limitations, wheel-work can only be used to create wares with radial symmetry on a vertical axis. These can then be altered by impressing, bulging, carving, fluting, faceting, incising, and by other methods making the wares more visually interesting. Often, thrown pieces are further modified by having handles, lids, feet, spouts, and other functional aspects added using the techniques of handworking.

Jiggering and jolleying: These operations are carried out on the potter's wheel and allow the time taken to bring wares to a standardized form to be reduced. Jiggering is the operation of bringing a shaped tool into contact with the plastic clay of a piece under construction, the piece itself being set on a rotating plaster mould on the wheel. The jigger tool shapes one face whilst the mould shapes the other. Jiggering is used only in the production of flat wares, such as plates, but a similar operation, jolleying, is used in the production of hollow-wares, such as cups. Jiggering and jolleying have been used in the production of pottery since at least the 18th century. In large-scale factory production jiggering and jolleying are usually automated, which allows the operations to be carried out by semi-skilled labor.

Shaping on a potter's kick wheel; Gülşehir, Turkey

Roller-head machine: This machine is for shaping wares on a rotating mould, as in jiggering and jolleying, but with a rotary shaping tool replacing the fixed profile. The rotary shaping tool is a shallow cone having the same diameter as the ware being formed and shaped to the desired form of the back of the article being made. Wares may in this way be shaped, using relatively unskilled labor, in one operation at a rate of about twelve pieces per minute, though this varies with the size of the articles being produced. The roller-head machine is now used in factories worldwide.

RAM pressing: A factory process for shaping table wares and decorative ware by pressing a bat of prepared clay body into a required shape between two porous molding plates. After pressing, compressed air is blown through the porous mould plates to release the shaped wares.

Granulate pressing: As the name suggests, this is the operation of shaping pottery by pressing clay in a semi-dry and granulated condition in a mould. The clay is pressed into the mould by a porous die through which water is pumped at high pressure. The granulated clay is prepared by spray-drying to produce a fine and free flowing material having a moisture content of between about five and six per cent. Granulate pressing, also known as dust pressing, is widely used in the manufacture of ceramic tiles and, increasingly, of plates.

Slipcasting: is often used in the mass-production of ceramics and is ideally suited to the making of wares that cannot be formed by other methods of shaping. A slip, made by mixing clay body with water, is poured into a highly absorbent plaster mold. Water from the slip is absorbed into the mould leaving a layer of clay body covering its internal surfaces and taking its internal shape. Excess slip is poured out of the mold, which is then split open and the molded object removed. Slipcasting is widely used in the production of sanitary wares and is also used for making smaller articles, such as intricately-detailed figurines.