Glossary Three: Definition of Terms used in the description of Pipe Kiln Furniture

Prop

First used in a pipe kiln context by Wells (Wells 1970, 24-5), this term is given to any piece of kiln furniture when its height is equal to or greater than its diameter. Props were used to support or separate pipes, bats, buns, saggars or any other objects within the kiln. To serve this function it is not necessary for the prop to be circular in plan but, in the body of material examined, this is invariably the case.

Bun

This term bun has been chosen for a group of disc or wheel shaped pieces of kiln furniture, of circular plan, when the height is less than the diameter. Buns are known to have been used severally in conjunction with props to form a column of mushroom shaped supports within the muffle.

Dish

The term dish, first used by Norris (Norris 1970, 169), is used for a shallow open vessel having the form of a sub-hemisphere or truncated cone. In the context of this survey such vessels, inverted, are known to have been used in the same way as buns, in combination with props, to form a columnar support through the central vertical axis of the kiln chamber.

Saggar

A standard term in ceramic industries defined by Rosenthal as a fireclay box in which the pottery is placed for subsequent firing, to protect it from direct contact with the flame (Rosenthal 1949, 299).

Bat

A standard term in ceramic industries defined by Rosenthal as a fired thin slab made of fireclay or other heat-resisting material to be used in kilns for placing ware (Rosenthal 1949, 292).