Turns out firing twice is a rather new idea in the long history of ceramics. This is partly true because the first ceramics were unglazed ware. Glazed pottery and small artifacts date back to the 5th Millennium BC.
They were only fired once.
Two firings for ceramics is relatively new, dating back to the 1700's in Europe.
All the above info comes from Fran Tristram's book Single Firing. This is a great source for information and history about single fired ceramics, which clays to use, how to match glazes and much more. Since ceramic beads and pendants are small, single firings are much more likely to be successful and produce beautiful results, with much less loss, than larger more complicated pots.
If you make single fired ceramic beads and/or pendants, please chime in and leave a link so we can see what you make. Thanks so much.
