Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery (plural "potteries"). Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery.

The definition of pottery used by ASTM is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products." Some archaeologists use a different understanding by excluding ceramic objects such as figurines which are made by similar processes, materials and the same people but are not vessels.

Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln which removes all water from the clay, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing. Prior to some shaping processes, clay must be prepared. kneading helps to ensure an even moisture content throughout the body. Air trapped within the clay body needs to be removed. This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine called a vacuum pug or manually by wedging. Wedging can also help produce an even moisture content. Once a clay body has been kneaded and de-aired or wedged, it is shaped by a variety of techniques. After shaping it is dried and then fired.

Mark Hewitt (1955 - ) is an English studio potter living in the small town of Pittsboro, North Carolina outside of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, known for his functional pottery and especially for his large scale wood-fired, salt-glazed ceramic pots, known as "monster pots." His work is influenced by Asian pottery, African pottery, North Carolina pottery, and especially the English pottery of Bernard Leach. Hewitt was taught by Leach's first student, Michael Cardew.

Hewitt was born in England in 1955 not far from the Spode china factory in Stoke-on-Trent. His father and grandfather were both managers at Spode, so he grew up with that ceramics tradition. While at Bristol University in 1975, however, Hewitt was attracted to the very different English studio pottery tradition when a friend loaned him a copy of Leach's seminal work, "A Potter's Book. Thereafter, he sought out opportunities to learn studio pottery, becoming Cardew's apprentice at the Wenford Bridge Pottery in Cornwall.

Hewitt's decision ultimately to settle in North Carolina has influenced his work profoundly, as have his travels to Africa and Southeast Asia. The North Carolina influence can be seen, for instance, in his use of alkaline glazes, runs of glass, and use of contrasting colors of clay. At the same time, his English roots may be seen in his close control of the potter's wheel, his crisp lines, and in the North Devon-style handles of many of his pots.

Maria Montoya Martinez (1887, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico – July 20, 1980, San Ildefonso Pueblo) was a Native American artist who created internationally known pottery. Martinez (born Maria Antonia Montoya), her husband Julian, and other family members examined traditional Pueblo pottery styles and techniques to create pieces which reflect the Pueblo people’s legacy of fine artwork and crafts.

Maria was from the San Ildefonso Pueblo, a community located 20 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. At an early age, she learned pottery skills from her aunt. During this time, Spanish tinware and Anglo enamelware had become readily available in the Southwest, making the creation of traditional cooking and serving pots less necessary. Traditional pottery making techniques were being lost, but Maria and her family experimented with different techniques and helped preserve the cultural art.

An excavation, in 1908, led by Edgar Lee Hewett, a professor of archaeology and the director of the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, discovered examples of black-on-black pottery. While searching through the sandy dirt and red clay of the New Mexico desert terrain, broken pieces of polished, jet-black pottery were uncovered (Peterson 89). At this time, few people were aware that during the Neolithic period, the Pueblo peoples crafted this style of finished ware. The Historical Pottery of the Pueblo Indians 1600-1800 text states that the finished ... pottery held a glossy, melted appearance which was only used for decoration on the pots (Frank and Harlow, 8). Sometime during the end of the 18th century, the use of plant pigments and finely powdered mineral substances became the preferred technique of painting and slowly caused the extinction of glazed pottery (Frank and Harlow, 8).