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Firstly, the clay
There is no set mixture for clay. Every pottery has its own particular blend and any slight variation will effect greatly what their wares look like. If you were to give 5 potteries an identical mould for a teapot you could end up with 5 very different teapots. The shape would be the same but there would be alterations in weight, colour and size, and can event effect how the well the decoration takes to the ware. From country to country the difference is even greater as the raw materials are mined from different parts of the world and so will have different mineral composition. They say that English china has a very ‘milky’ whiteness to it.
Clay is then made into a liquid called the casting slip. (The large water content in the slip means that very cold weather can sometimes stop production as anything below zero will make it freeze and unworkable) The casting slip is poured into the mould and left while the mould then draws out the water content until the shape of the teapot has solidified enough to hold its shape without the aid of the mould.The mould is removed and the clay pot is dried to remove more moisture. Once it has been trimmed and checked for any imperfections, the teapot is then ready for the kiln.
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