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).