Stage 5 : Firing

This is what the pot would look like during the SECOND stage of firing, with the lid of the kiln CLOSED. The FIRST phase (lid open) would have fired both paint and unpainted clay to "red". When the kiln lid was closed, both paint and unpainted clay went black. The kiln was open again for the THIRD phase, and as it cooled the unpainted clay reverted to its red color. The painted parts which had turned black could not revert because of SINTERING. See a full explanation of the Chemistry