Underside detail of an Azure Blanc peacock-green miniature vase. Contemporary product photograph.
An unglazed foot is usually there to keep a vase from sticking to its support in the kiln. Glaze melts during firing. If it lies between the pot and the shelf beneath it, it can bond them together.
On a vase with a raised foot ring, only a narrow circle needs to meet the surface below. The center is recessed, so it can carry glaze while the standing edge remains bare. A vase can have both an “unglazed foot” and a “glazed base”: the words refer to different surfaces.
A White Ring Around Blue-Green Glaze
Look at the photograph of our peacock-green miniature vase. The blue-green surface continues into the hollow beneath the vessel. A broad white ring surrounds it, separating that glossy recess from the glazed outer wall. The reflection inside the ring makes the change in level particularly easy to see.
The exposed foot is fired ceramic. It has been through the kiln along with the rest of the vase, without the glaze covering that part of the surface. Potters may wipe glaze off the bottom before firing, a step described in Aalto University’s ceramic-firing guide.
When browsing a vase online, look for an underside photograph as well as the front view. It should let you follow where the glaze stops and see the edge on which the vessel stands.
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