Slip trailing is decorating pottery by squeezing lines and dots of slip from a nozzle bottle or bulb onto leather-hard clay, much like piping icing. The raised lines stay on the surface after firing.
What Is Slip Trailing?
Traditional English slipware, with its trailed dots, lines and feathered patterns, made slip trailing famous, and the technique is still popular for plates, platters and tiles. The slip needs to be thick enough to hold its shape but fluid enough to flow from the nozzle.
Trailing works best on clay that is soft to medium leather hard, so the slip bonds well and both shrink together. Trailing onto a wet base coat of slip and then tilting or dragging a feather through it creates feathered or marbled designs.
Different nozzle sizes give different line weights, and practising on newspaper or a scrap slab first helps you get the pressure right. Trailed slips are usually covered with a clear or lightly tinted glaze.
Trailed glaze, underglaze and wax resist are related techniques, and some potters use a trailer bottle to apply all of them. Clean the nozzles straight after use so dried slip doesn’t block them.
This pottery glossary entry from Le Studio Art Space is general educational content. Always follow the clay, glaze and kiln makers’ data for your own materials and equipment.