Using a wooden potter’s rib at Luzerner Keramik, c. 1950/1960.
Andreas Heege, 2021
So-called potters’ ribs are tools commonly used by potters to shape vessels on the wheel and to smooth their surfaces. Distinction should be made between a potter’s rib and a trimming tool. The latter is used to burnish the surface of a leather-hard vessel, sharpen its contours or trim the footring (used in Italy from the 16th century onwards: Lightbown/Caiger-Smith 1980, 38, Picollpasso, I tre libri dell’arte del vasaio, 1548).
Trimming a vase using a trimming tool, Luzerner Keramik, c. 1950/1960.
Ribs can have very different shapes; they are mostly made of wood but can also be made of metal or plastic. They often have a hole to provide a better grip. There are illustrations of potters’ ribs dating back to at least the mid-16th century (Blondel 2001, 127, after Agricola, De re metallica 1556 and Lightbown/Caiger-Smith 1980, 37, Picollpasso, I tre libri dell’arte del vasaio, 1548).
Potters’ ribs from the Röthlisberger workshop in Langnau, Canton of Bern, Oberdorfstrasse, c. 1900/1930.
Workshop photos often show ribs of this type hanging on the wall; this photo shows a workshop in Heimberg, Canton of Bern, c. 1950.
Potter’s rib from Fredelsloh, Lower Saxony, Germany, front and back, dated 1680.
One of the oldest known potters’ ribs comes from the guild chest of the potters from Fredelsloh in Lower Saxony. It is dated 1680 on the back. The front shows a kick-wheel with a thick wheel head as was typical of the period and what are probably ribs of different shapes on either side. One of the oldest depictions of a potter’s workshop from Switzerland shows an identical rib on the wall beside the potter.
Cartoon for the top image of a stained glass panel by Ulrich Fisch (1613-1686), SNM LM-25731, after Lehmann 1992, Fig. 28.
Translation Sandy Haemmerle
German: Drehschiene
French: Estèque en bois
References:
Blondel 2001
Nicole Blondel, Céramique: vocabulaire technique, Paris 2001.
Lehmann 1992
Peter Lehmann, Zwei Töpferöfen in der Winterthurer Altstadt (Berichte der Zürcher Denkmalpflege. Archäologische Monographien 12), Egg 1992.
Lightbown/Caiger-Smith 1980
Ronald Lightbown/Alan Caiger-Smith, Cipriano Piccolpasso, I tre libri dell’arte del vasaio = The three books of the potter’s art: a facsimile of the manuscript in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, London 1980.
