Introduction

Many maiolica designs are made up of repeating geometric motifs.  Evenly dividing a round item is a required basic skill.  A round piece of pottery can be divided in a number of ways.  Other than "eyeballing it", the simplest way to evenly divide a round piece is to:

1. Turn the ceramic pot upside down and trace the circumference on a piece of paper.
2. Cut out the tracing and fold the tracing into the number of desired sections. 
3. Using the folded paper as a guide, mark the sections on the ceramic piece with a pencil.

Generic Template

Another way to divide a round piece of pottery is to create a generic circular template using some basic drafting tools -- a compass, a protractor, a ruler and a pencil.  A circle is made up of 360°.  Considering the even divisors of 360, it is useful to create a circular template that has lines at 5° increments.  After using the pouncing technique to transfer the generic pattern grid to a glazed piece of pottery, it is possible to freehand a number of geometric designs.

Geometric graph paper can also be generated for free on the web. Click here to view a compass saved as an Adobe Acrobat file. Check out building your own version at http://www.incompetech.com/graphpaper/

Using a Generic Template

Two of the most common motifs used in maiolica designs, fish scales and the diaper pattern, can be made using the 5° division lines.  Common maiolica motifs can be personalized with variations in the fill pattern or colors.

Useful Divisions of a Circle