to the bottom. The green saggars were dried and then placed on the top of bungs during the next firing of the kiln. The unfired ceramic ware was placed in saggars and then biscuit fired, before being glazed and again placed in saggars prior to being glost fired. Ware may then be decorated, and placed on refractory bats and fired again such as in a muffle kiln. A saggar maker's bottom knocker was a job title considered sufficiently amusing for it to be featured on the television panel show What's My Line?. Whilst saggar making was a skilled craft, bottom knocking was far less skilled, consisting of beating clay into a metal ring. Studio pottery From the twentieth century studio potters have used saggars to create decorative ceramic pieces. In this use saggars are used to create a localised reducing atmosphere, or concentrate the effects of salts, metal oxides and other materials on the surface of their ware. Some pots may be carefully prepared for saggar firing. One method creates a smooth surface covered with clay slip, terra sigillata, which responds particularly well to the saggar technique. This slip covering may be burnished to achieve a gloss. Prepared pots are nestled into saggars filled with beds of combustible materials, such as sawdust, less combustible organic materials, salts and metals. These materials ignite or fume during firing, leaving the pot buried in layers of fine ash. Ware produced in filled saggars may display dramatic markings, with colours ranging from distinctive black and white markings to flashes of golds, greens and red tones. Porcelain and stoneware are ideal for displaying the surface patterns obtained through saggar firing. In addition to the use of saggars, some studio potters bundle pots and burnable materials within a heavy wrapping of metal foil. Saggar clay Saggar clay is a course grained fire clay which gets its name from the saggars which it is used to make. References Hamer, Frank and Janet. The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques. A & C Black Publishers, Limited, London, England, Third Edition 1991. . Watkins, James C., Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques: Raku * Saggar * Pit * Barrel, Lark Ceramics Publications, 2007. , . External links Potbank Dictionary Archived for the British Library. Pottery