potter's wheel

n. A revolving, often treadle-operated horizontal disk on which clay is shaped manually.

potter's wheel

n (Ceramics) a device with a horizontal rotating disc, on which clay is shaped into pots, bowls, etc, by hand

pot′ter's wheel`

n. a device with a rotating horizontal disk upon which clay is molded by a potter. [1720–30]

potter's wheel

A device with a flat rotating disk on a platform, usually powered by a treadle, on which clay is molded by hand.

Thesaurus

Noun

potter's wheel - a horizontal rotating wheel holding the clay being shaped by a potter; "the potter's wheel was invented in Asia Minor around 6500 BC"wheel - a simple machine consisting of a circular frame with spokes (or a solid disc) that can rotate on a shaft or axle (as in vehicles or other machines)

Translations

Potter's Wheel

potter's wheel

[′päd·ərz ′wēl] (engineering) A revolving horizontal disk that turns when a treadle is operated; used to shape clay by hand.

Potter’s Wheel

a tool for shaping pottery and some other ceramic articles, using the inertia of rotation to improve the shape of the products and increase labor productivity. A manual potter’s wheel is turned on a vertical spindle with one hand while the other hand shapes the vessel; a more advanced, foot-powered model was equipped with a flywheel at the bottom that was turned by the feet, freeing both of the craftsman’s hands and making the wheel rotate faster, making it possible to shape the vessel not only piece by piece from spiral coils, as is done on a manual potter’s wheel, but also by pulling it from a solid piece of clay. The invention and widespread use of the potter’s wheel were followed by the training of pottery specialists. The potter’s wheel became known in various countries at different times—in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India in the fourth and third millennia B.C.;in Iran, Middle Asia, Greece, and China in the second millennium B.C.;in Italy, Spain, France, Transcaucasia, and the northern Black Sea area in the first millennium B.C.;in Britain in about the first century B.C.;in Ancient Rus’, the Volga Region, and Germany in the ninth and tenth centuries; and in Scandinavia in the 12th century. In America, the potter’s wheel was unknown until the arrival of European settlers. In modern pottery production the wheel is usually operated by electric power.

REFERENCES

Rybakov, B. A. Remeslo Drevnei Rust. Moscow, 1948.
Bobrinskii, A. A. “Drevnerusskii goncharnyi krug.” Sovetskaia ar-kheologiia, 1962, no. 3.

M. G. RABINOVICH

potter's wheel

potter's wheel

potter's wheel

pot′ter's wheel`

potter's wheel

Potter's Wheel

potter's wheel

Potter’s Wheel

REFERENCES

potter's wheel

Words related to potter's wheel

noun a horizontal rotating wheel holding the clay being shaped by a potter

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