Three rough lumps of dry grey clay, coarse and crumbly, with paler grit and small pebbles embedded in the broken surfaces.
  • A close view of the clay lumps, their coarse grey surfaces studded with pale grit and small dark inclusions.

Gray clay is a naturally occurring clay with moderate iron content that gives it a muted, neutral tone in its raw state. Gray clays often form in environments where iron has neither fully oxidized (red) nor remained unoxidized (blue). This wild clay was dug in Yancey County, North Carolina by Cherokee Potter Levi West.

Composition

Clay minerals, iron compounds

Handling Notes

  • Typically fired at cone 5
  • When fired, this clay turns to a terracotta red
  • It is often used for hand-building, coil-building, and various techniques to create pottery and sculpture objects

Applications in Craft

Keywords

Provenance

Levi West, Cherokee, North Carolina. Acquired 2024.

In Use

Have you used this material?

Please contact Mellanee Goodman, Program Director, Curator, and Materials Specialist, to start a conversation about submitting your work for inclusion on this site.

mgoodman@centerforcraft.org