Practical Pottery: A Complete Guide to Getting Started in Making Beautiful & Functional Bowls, Plates, Vases & More on the Wheel

by Sus Borgbjerg, Susan Liebe

192 pages, Hardcover

Published May 28, 2025

Reviews

[Marnie Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to wheel throwing pottery that includes dimensions and weights for simple tableware: cup, bowl, plate, pitcher, and vase. A Danish version of the book was originally published in 2023. This version was translated (sometimes sloppily) to English and published in 2025. Inconsistencies could be a problem--for example, the size of the pitcher described in the main instructions is not the same as the size of the pitcher in its handle instructions. Full-page and two-page images include dramatically lit photographs of equipment, components, finished pieces, and the authors in staged settings. Instructions are written in numbered paragraphs that correspond to color photographs, but the rigid adherence to the format of text and images leaves too much blank, white space. The typeface for the instructions is a lightweight, sans serif style that is difficult to read. The typeface for the table of contents is a pale grey, also difficult to read.

[Marissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Editorial choices were definitely made here. Each guide to throwing various objects repeats the same first steps nearly verbatim, like a Babysitters Club book, which takes up the bulk of the text. When it comes to processes with variance - pulling handles, glazing, firing, etc - it's like all the words have been used up and they breeze through the most complicated parts of the process.

At one point, clay drying out is described as "water vaporizing" and then I started to suspect that there may be translation issues.

It's a pretty coffee table book, but not a great teaching tool.