Leather-hard

The clay is still visibly damp (normally a darkish grey, if it began whiteish) but has dried enough to be able to be handled without deformation.

The leather-hard stage is the easiest place to add on extension material that cannot be dried with the rest of the pot without causing some issues to occur.

Slips can form when water is added to clay at a level higher than the rate of plasticity.

When glazes are applied in the leather-hard stage, they tend to run a lesser risk of cracking the pot when they are fired.

However, there are still instances when the glaze will crack no matter what is done to prevent it due to any number of changes that could happen during a firing.

This refers to what happens when trimming is done to the edges or casting marks that are on the pot from the initial molding of the vessel, allowing it to gain a smoother texture.

This is produced when a hard object, often a highly polished stone or glass, is rubbed on the surface of a leather-hard vessel.

Burnishing smooths all the clay particles into facing the same direction, allowing light to reflect off them.

[8] Polishing is similar to burnishing, but instead of trying forcing the particles of the clay into facing the same direction, it smooths over the edges to make it glossier in nature without an actual glaze.

Canteen, China, Jiangxi Province, 15th century, porcelain with cobalt under colorless glaze. As with nearly all Chinese blue and white porcelain , this was painted when leather-hard, and probably the spout and rings were added.