The Absolute Best Gifts for Potters
Pottery is one of the most ancient art forms, and is a great way to express your creativity. Sculptors and potters create so many beautiful structures, decorations, and sculptures in 3D all over the world. These art forms require a lot of patience and vision but can be so rewarding once you get the hang of it.
Whether you are an avid potter yourself or you know someone who is, you will understand how hard it is to find something that you can buy as a gift for them or yourself.
Most people that are into pottery or sculpting have the more basic tools already at their disposal and some may even have reading materials and memberships that can be bought as gifts, so it can be very hard to buy them anything as a gift.
So, what are the absolute best gifts for potters? The best gifts for potters are both useful and a little unique. Tool sets are great for beginners and amateurs who may not have much, but for experienced hobbyists and pros, more sophisticated tools and unusual items for their craft are more thoughtful.
In this guide, we will talk about the 15 best gifts that you can buy for the pottery lovers in your life, or yourself. We’ll discuss a variety of gift options that are sure to make you or your loved ones very happy.
Gift Guide – 15 Best Gifts for Potters and Sculptors
Buying a gift for potters and sculptors is hard because they have all the tools they will ever need and anything they need for their work or hobby, they can just go out there and buy.
When buying gifts for any artist or hobbyist, something unique that they may not have come across is a always great option.
If you can swing it, something on the more expensive side is also a great gift. Whatever you end up buying, a good rule of thumb is to always gift items that will get used and not just stay on the shelf gathering dust.
Down below we’re listing the 15 best gifts that you can buy for yourself or the potters in your life that are a little on the unique thoughtful side that are sure to make their day:
Keep reading for more information on each of these fabulous gift ideas.
1. ISSEVE Pottery Clay Sculpting Tools
If you’re looking for a set that will surely be a hit with any potters and sculptors in your life, this is the one for you. This set has 43 pieces which include polymer sculpting tools and metal pottery tools.
It has a storage case making it the complete package for you or your pottery-loving friend. The grips on these tools are firm and they are highly durable. The storage case is made of sturdy materials and allows you to take your tools everywhere with ease and safety.
This is one the best gifts, both in terms of quality and the items it has in it, that you can give to beginners or intermediate hobbyists who won’t spend money on tools for themselves.
2. UCEC Vintage Alphabet Stamp Set
This wooden stamp set is a perfect gift for the potter or sculptor in your life. This is something that not everyone has in their arsenal, but will make a great addition to any tool shelf. Especially for those make personalized gifts or fun wares to sell, these stamps make for great, even, and virtually hassle-free imprints.
These wooden alphabet stamps come in 52 upper case and lower case alphabets, 10 numbers, and 8 punctuation marks allowing any hobbyist to “write” even and beautifully vintage-looking lines in clay. Plus, these are extremely durable and easy to clean, perfect for messy clay use.
These stamps come in a beautiful vintage box which adds to the value of this set. Your favorite ceramicist will be eager to use and show it off. This is a great gift as it is something that many potters don’t already have, but will be likely to use.
3. Mini Ribbon Toolset
This is another toolset that a beginner or intermediate sculptor in your life would likely love to receive as a gift. This small sculpting tool set comes with 6 ribbon cutters that are great for detailed shaping work on your pottery piece.
The precision that these tools allow is unmatched at this price point, they are a great addition to the work toolset of any potter or sculptor. They are compact and won’t take up much room but will work like charms when it comes to decorating or finishing off a piece.
Whether someone already has tools like this or not, this set makes a great gift as these tools are good value for money and are insanely easy to use. Besides, these little tools are easy to lose, so if you accidentally buy extras, the spares are likely to be appreciated one day.
4. US Art Supply 7 Inch Sculpting Wheel
This is a more serious gift, but it is one the sculptors in your life will reach for every session. The wheel is all metal, 7 inches across, and it turns on ball bearings so a piece keeps spinning while they trim and decorate it.
It is light enough to carry to a class or a weekend workshop and heavy enough to stay put on the table. It holds 4.7 stars across 696 reviews.
Good for someone who has only ever worked flat, and good for a potter who already owns a full wheel and wants something portable for handbuilding.
5. Xiem Tools Precision Applicator
Precision applicators are something that every potter and sculptor will have in their arsenal. This Xiem applicator is a great gift that can add to their growing collection of pottery tools.
This beats all the plastic bottles available in the market as the rubber bottle allows for more control when slip trailing or using slip decoration techniques. It’s perfect for those looking to create beautiful designs or experiment with different slip colors in more precise designs.
This applicator tool comes in two sizes, giving you 1 or 3 ounces, and has a flexible rubber bulb with a variety of screw-on metal tips. The more you use this tool, the more you or the recipient of the gift, will fall in love with it.
6. Folding Hand Truck With A 330 Pound Capacity
This is another serious gift, but it is sure to be appreciated by the potters and ceramicists who cart their work to markets, shows, and workshops.
A dolly is the difference between one trip and five when you are moving boxed orders, bags of clay, and a table worth of finished pots.
This one carries up to 330 pounds, folds flat enough to slide in behind a car seat, and rolls on rubber wheels that will not chatter across a parking lot. It has 4.6 stars from more than 1,600 reviews.
If the potter in your life loads a car every few weekends, this will get more use than anything else on the list. If they paint as well as throw, our gifts for painters guide covers that side of the studio.
7. EZE-LAP Diamond Sharpening Stone
One of the most basic yet important tools that sculptors and potters use is a knife. A knife has many uses and needs to always be sharp for it to work properly.
This diamond sharpening stone is the perfect gift as it ensures that the knives that are used all the time always stay sharp. This sharpening stone is made from professional grade aluminum oxide which allows you to sharpen the knife with just water instead of investing in expensive oils.
It also has a non-slip base making it incredibly safe to use on any surface you choose to work on. The stone has a 600 grit side and a 300 grit side making it a complete package for anyone looking to sharpen their knives or pretty much any other tools.
8. Clay Extruder Gun With 20 Discs
An extruder is a great gift for potters who make handles, coils, or decorative trim. Shaping handles by hand is fiddly work and they rarely come out as even as you want them.
You load clay into the barrel, pick one of the 20 discs, and push out a rope in whatever profile the project needs. Coils, ribbons, square bars, hollow tubes.
The body is aluminium alloy and it comes apart for cleaning, which matters far more than it sounds once clay starts drying inside. It holds 4.5 stars across 699 reviews.
9. A Dictionary of Color Combinations
A Dictionary of Color Combinations is for color theory enthusiasts and any potter who loves connecting with the historical and intellectual sides of their craft. It is based on the work of Sanzo Wada who was a Japanese teacher, artist, and costume designer and it actually dates to the 1930s.
Available in both Japanese and English, this paperwork a great way to familiarize yourself with how colors work together and has 348 color combinations to get you excited.
This book makes a great gift for sculptors – and any artist or designer in your life – as it can provide so much inspiration on the color schemes and palettes for glazing, decorating, and more.
It is a wonderful addition to the library for any artist that loves to use color and learn from other great artists who’ve come before. Although a classic, your favorite potter is unlikely to have it, but sure to love it.
10. Split Leg Leather Welding Apron
An apron is not the first thing anyone thinks of as a gift, but it is the thing potters wear every session, and if they want a lighter option there are studio aprons made for clay and almost never buy for themselves.
This one is heavy cowhide, so it shrugs off heat and sparks around a kiln, and the split leg cut means they can straddle a wheel without the fabric pulling across their knees.
It runs 24 by 48 inches and fits most adults. 4.5 stars across more than 1,100 reviews.
11. Extra Large Heavy Duty Canvas Tote
A big canvas bag is one of those gifts that gets used within a day and then never put away again.
This one is 12oz cotton canvas and genuinely oversized, so it handles wet clay, a full tool roll, greenware wrapped in newspaper, or a studio load of towels without the handles giving out.
It has 4.6 stars from more than 1,700 reviews and sits firmly in the budget-friendly tier, which makes it a good add-on next to something bigger.
12. Neiko Diamond Grit Drill Bit Set
A tool that most advanced potters and sculptors have in their toolbox is the clay drill. A drill can help potters make holes in lamps and plant pots making their products pretty to look at and practical in terms of use.
This diamond-coated, nickel-plated grit set is the perfect gift for those people in your life as it provides extra durability and maximizes performance when it comes to drilling in ceramic products.
This set contains 5 pieces ranging in size from 5/32” to ½” which makes this set a full package allowing you to work on the smallest of things to the biggest of projects. The price is a great value for the type of quality that you are getting and giving this set as a gift will serve any potter well.
13. Mastering the Potter’s Wheel – Ben Carter
If you’re looking to buy a gift for a newbie in the world of pottery and sculpting or if you are entering the wonderful world of pottery, this book is a very interesting read.
This is great for beginners but also intermediate potters as it dives into the basics that one should know when working with clay. The advice in the book is straightforward but thorough. It covers everything from throwing techniques to modifications that can be made to forms that your project may take.
The book also includes tips like stretches that you can do to avoid lower back pain as well as guiding sculptors best pottery practices. It’s great for those looking to take their craft to the next level, whether they haven taken classes or not.
14. Mary Kay Satin Hands Pampering Set
To end the list of some of the best gifts for potters and sculptors, we have this pampering and soothing set for those hard-working hands.
A lot of the work that potters do is with their hands which means that inevitably they get dirty, dry, and perhaps even a little damaged due to excessive washing, and clay drying and cracking on their skin.
This set from Mary Kay contains a scrub that will help flake the dead skin away to reveal the smooth skin underneath as well as a cream that will bring back the softness of your hands in no time.
Not many would think of a lotion set being useful for potters or other artists, but it’s sure to be useful and appreciated by your favorite potter. Plus, there’s no worry that you may have doubled up on a tool or gift. You can always extra skincare products when you work with your hands.
15. Xiem Tools BatMate
The BatMate is a 12-inch diameter synthetic fabric that can be placed in between a bat and the wheel head to remove any chance of wobbling and can improve the accuracy of throwing and trimming.
This is a great gift for intermediate potters as this is likely something that they will not already have, but which will soon become a staple in their pottery and sculpting journey.
All you need to do is add water and it can be placed however you want it to lay on top of your wheel. If you know someone who has a stability issue with their wheel, this is a great gift that can help them move towards a more stable experience.
Conclusion
Potters and sculptors around the world make some of the most beautiful art pieces that we may ever see. They work with extreme patience and precision and deserve a treat now and then to let them know we appreciate their talent.
The list above covers all budgets and has unique ideas that can make potters and sculptors jump with joy. Whether you’re buying for yourself or someone else, we hope this gift guide helps you find the perfect gift.
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