The insulated chamber that fires clay into ceramic, from ancient wood-fired updraft kilns and the climbing kilns of East Asia to the electric kiln that put stoneware temperatures in a garage. Firing is where the potter's work is finally decided, which gives kiln openings their enduring suspense. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Introduced When (Circa) OriginAs old as fired pottery; purpose-built kilns appear with the early ceramic traditions and open firing is older still 1 Introduced era (class) Connections
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Kiln (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationUses of kilns section
the earliest known kiln, which dates to around 6000 BCE, and was found at the Yarim Tepe site in modern Iraq.
- Etymology/pronunciation section
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Why do some potters pronounce kiln without the n?
It is the older pronunciation; the n was originally silent and many potters still drop it by tradition.
Kiln was originally pronounced with a silent n, as recorded in Webster's Dictionary of 1828. The spelling pronunciation, sounding the n, has since become dominant almost everywhere, but many potters and ceramics artists still say it the traditional way, passed down from teacher to student like any other craft habit.
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