The Great Pottery Throw Down

Episode 3 (2x3)

Air date: Feb 16, 2017

It's week three and the eight remaining potters must master the art of Japanese-style ceramics. In the Throw Down, the potters have 15 minutes at the wheel to make as many rice bowls as they can. They must throw 'off the hump' - a technique which helps potters mass produce small pots very quickly. For their Spot Test they must carefully pierce and carve an intricate design into a lantern using a technique known as 'the devil's work'. And finally, in the Main Make, the potters must throw a sake set consisting of one bottle and six identical cups. They fire them using one of the most thrilling techniques in ceramics - Raku. Originating in 16th-century Japan, this risky and volatile method of firing requires the potters to pull their burning sake sets out of the kiln before plunging them into a bin full of combustible materials.