u/Tonnemaker

So, I like messing around with clay and decided to give this one ago. I've never seen one made in ceramics before.
I don't think any historical ones were found in ceramics, which is also something to think about.

Anyway, this one is based on the dodecahedron from Tongeren, I used the dimensions as specified by Nouwen.
But he doesn't define what he meant by height, and with puzzling, drawing lines in CAD on various photos, I can only make it kind of fit if he defines height as the distance between oposing vertices with and without knobs.

The Saint-Venant book is clearer and defines it as the distance between opposing faces with and without knobs. The values are different from Nouwen. There could have been more consistency in naming and measuring.
Nouwen also specifies the opposing face diameters, but not the order, so those are somewhat visually based on the pictures I saw.

That said I didn't investigate that deeply, I just wanted to make one, not do a whole literature study.
I think I figured out how to make them way cleaner and neater by including the ornaments as a stamp in the "template" that I use to cut the pentagons. Also the little balls could be a bit neater, I still have to think about that, they are very tiny.

I just want to share my little dodecahedron before it inevitably cracks. It's based on the dimensions of the one in the Gallo-Roman museum in Tongeren.

I only make something in clay rarely as I don't have a kiln. A family member has one, but I don't know show to get it there in one piece, it is quite fragile. I will ask a local studio maybe.

Maybe some question fot the next time I make one.

How would I go about polishing an object like this? I have problems with the flat surfaces. With a round pot, I can make it shine like a piece of marble. But with flat surfaces, I always have lines from the tool.

Secondly, it dries too fast, the polishing tears out pieces of grog. I ended up going over it with a wet brush to undo my polishing and give it a uniform texture

The scored lines look a bit clumsy too. I haven't figured out how to do that without ruining the surface.

But still it is such a satisfying form factor that begs to be fiddled with. But it is so fragile, I must resist.