Вопреки тому что шликер был слишком густым, гончар продолжил формовать заготовку.

Вопреки тому что is a set expression meaning despite the fact that or even though.

It introduces a contrast:

• something made the action difficult or unexpected,
• but the action still happened.

So in this sentence:

• шликер был слишком густым = the slip was too thick
• гончар продолжил... = the potter kept going anyway

A very close English equivalent is:

• Despite the fact that the slip was too thick, the potter continued shaping the blank.

This is a more bookish or formal way to express contrast than everyday хотя.

Because вопреки normally governs the dative case.

Compare:

• вопреки правилам = contrary to the rules
• вопреки ожиданиям = contrary to expectations

In вопреки тому что, the word тому is the dative form of то and is required by вопреки.

So structurally, you can think of it as:

• вопреки тому = contrary to that
• что... = that / the fact that...

Together: вопреки тому что... = despite the fact that...

You do not need to translate it word-for-word in normal use; it is best learned as a fixed conjunction.

Yes. A very natural alternative would be:

• Хотя шликер был слишком густым, гончар продолжил формовать заготовку.

Both mean roughly although / even though.

The difference is mainly style:

• хотя = more common, neutral, everyday
• вопреки тому что = more formal, literary, or emphatic

So if you are speaking casually, хотя is usually the safer choice.

Шликер is a technical ceramics term. It refers to a liquid clay mixture, often called slip in English.

It is not a very common everyday word unless you are talking about:

• pottery
• ceramics
• manufacturing involving clay

So a learner may not encounter it often outside that context.

Grammatically here:

• шликер is masculine
• nominative singular
• the subject of the clause шликер был слишком густым

Here густым is the instrumental singular masculine form of густой.

After быть in the past or future, Russian often uses the instrumental for a predicate noun or adjective:

• он был врачом
• чай был горячим
• шликер был слишком густым

This is very normal and standard.

You may also hear nominative adjectives after быть in some contexts, especially in less formal or more conversational speech:

• шликер был слишком густой

But in a written sentence like this, густым sounds very natural and standard.

So:

• густой = dictionary form
• густым = instrumental form used as the predicate after был

Слишком means too in the sense of more than is acceptable or desirable.

So:

• густой = thick
• слишком густой / густым = too thick

It does not just mean very.
Compare:

• очень густой = very thick
• слишком густой = too thick

In this sentence, слишком implies a problem: the slip had excessive thickness.

This is a very common pattern in Russian.

• продолжил is perfective past tense of продолжить
• формовать is an imperfective infinitive

Why this combination?

Because after verbs like:

• начать / начинать
• продолжить / продолжать
• перестать / переставать

Russian usually uses an imperfective infinitive to describe the ongoing activity itself.

So:

• начал читать = began reading
• продолжил работать = continued working
• перестал курить = stopped smoking

Here:

• продолжил формовать = continued shaping / kept shaping

The first verb marks the event of continuation, while the infinitive names the process.

Формовать means something like to shape, to mold, or to form, especially in a technical or production sense.

It is more specific and more technical than:

• делать = to make
• лепить = to sculpt/model by hand

In pottery or manufacturing language, формовать suggests giving material a shape, often according to a process or method.

So in this sentence, it is not just making something in a general sense. It is specifically forming/shaping the workpiece.

Заготовка means a blank, preform, workpiece, or piece prepared for further processing.

In this sentence it is the direct object of формовать:

• формовать что? — заготовку

That is why it is in the accusative singular:

• nominative: заготовка
• accusative: заготовку

So:

• гончар продолжил формовать заготовку = the potter continued shaping the blank/workpiece

Yes, the clauses could be reversed.

Original:

• Вопреки тому что шликер был слишком густым, гончар продолжил формовать заготовку.

Possible reversal:

• Гончар продолжил формовать заготовку, вопреки тому что шликер был слишком густым.

The original order puts the contrast first, which sets up the obstacle before the main action. This is common and often stylistically effective.

Russian word order is flexible, but it affects emphasis:

• putting the вопреки... clause first highlights the difficulty
• putting the main clause first highlights the action

Because вопреки тому что шликер был слишком густым is a subordinate clause, and it is separated from the main clause by a comma.

Structure:

• subordinate clause: Вопреки тому что шликер был слишком густым
• main clause: гончар продолжил формовать заготовку

Russian normally separates this kind of subordinate clause with a comma, just as English separates clauses like:

• Although the slip was too thick, the potter continued...

In the past tense, yes, был is necessary.

Russian omits to be only in the present tense:

• шликер слишком густой = the slip is too thick

But in the past:

• шликер был слишком густым = the slip was too thick

So you cannot normally drop был here.

Гончар is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the main clause.

• кто продолжил формовать? — гончар

So:

• гончар = the potter
• nominative subject
• masculine singular

The verb продолжил is also masculine singular past tense, which agrees with the subject.

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree in gender and number with the subject.

Compare:

• гончар продолжил = the potter continued
• гончарка продолжила = the female potter continued
• они продолжили = they continued

Since гончар is masculine singular, the verb is:

• продолжил

This is one of the key features of the Russian past tense.

It is natural, but it does sound somewhat formal and technical because of the vocabulary:

• шликер
• формовать
• заготовку

These are specialized words from ceramics or production contexts.

Also, вопреки тому что is more formal than everyday хотя.

So the sentence is grammatically normal and natural, but stylistically it belongs more to:

• technical writing
• descriptive prose
• educational or professional context

than to casual conversation.