Вопреки тому что глазурование отложили, гончар всё же начал глазуровать черепок.

It means despite the fact that, although, or even though.

The core word вопреки means contrary to or in spite of. In this sentence it is part of the larger conjunction вопреки тому что, which introduces a concessive clause: something happened despite another fact.

So the first part of the sentence sets up a contrast:

• Вопреки тому что глазурование отложили = Although / despite the fact that the glazing was postponed

This is a fairly formal or literary way to express that idea.

Because вопреки normally governs the dative case.

So:

• вопреки чему? = contrary to what?
• тому is the dative singular form of то

In вопреки тому что..., the word тому is part of the fixed pattern. Literally, you can think of it as something like contrary to that fact that..., although in natural English we would not translate it word-for-word.

This is similar in structure to expressions like:

• благодаря тому что = thanks to the fact that
• из-за того что = because of the fact that
• несмотря на то что = despite the fact that

Because here вопреки тому что is being treated as a single compound conjunction.

So the comma appears only at the boundary between the subordinate clause and the main clause:

• Вопреки тому что глазурование отложили, гончар...

In Russian, some multi-word conjunctions can sometimes be split, depending on style and emphasis, but in this sentence the unsplit version is normal and straightforward.

For a learner, the safest way to read it is as one unit:

• вопреки тому что = although / despite the fact that

Russian speakers would often use simpler and more common alternatives, especially in everyday speech:

• хотя = although
• несмотря на то что = despite the fact that

So a more everyday version might be:

• Хотя глазурование отложили, гончар всё же начал глазуровать черепок.

The original вопреки тому что sounds more formal, bookish, or stylistically elevated. It is not wrong at all; it just is not the plainest conversational choice.

This is a very common Russian pattern: 3rd person plural with no expressed subject.

In English, we often use:

• a passive: it was postponed
• or vague they: they postponed it

Russian often uses the past plural form without naming who did it:

• отложили = they postponed / it was postponed

This is called an indefinite-personal construction. It means the action happened, but the doer is either unknown, unimportant, or intentionally left unspecified.

So:

• глазурование отложили = literally they postponed the glazing
• but in natural English: the glazing was postponed

Because the sentence refers to a completed decision or event: the postponement happened as a single whole fact.

• откладывали would be imperfective: they were postponing it, or postponed it repeatedly / as a process
• отложили is perfective: they postponed it

Here the speaker is presenting the postponement as a finished fact that creates the contrast with what follows. That is why отложили is the natural choice.

Глазурование is a noun, while глазуровать is a verb.

• глазурование = glazing as a process or operation
• глазуровать = to glaze

So the sentence first names the process as an event:

• глазурование отложили = the glazing was postponed

Then it describes someone performing the action:

• начал глазуровать = began to glaze

Using the noun in the first clause sounds somewhat technical or procedural, which fits the pottery context.

After verbs like начать (to begin), Russian normally uses an imperfective infinitive.

That is because beginning focuses on the start of a process, and the imperfective is the aspect that presents the action as a process or ongoing activity.

So:

• начал глазуровать = began to glaze

This is exactly what you would expect.

In general:

• начал читать
• начал писать
• начал работать

all use imperfective infinitives for the same reason.

Всё же means nevertheless, all the same, or even so.

It strengthens the contrast between the two parts of the sentence:

• the glazing had been postponed
• but even so, the potter started glazing the piece

So it is not just a basic and then. It specifically signals that the second action happened despite the situation described earlier.

A close synonym is всё-таки. In many contexts they are very similar.

Yes, in many contexts черепок means a potsherd, shard, or broken piece of pottery.

But in ceramics and pottery language, черепок can also be a technical term for the ceramic body or the clay piece itself, especially in relation to firing and glazing. In that kind of context, it does not necessarily mean a random broken shard.

So in this sentence, because the verb is глазуровать, the word is probably being used in a technical pottery sense: the potter began glazing the ceramic piece/body.

A learner should notice that this is a specialized usage, not just the everyday broken shard meaning.

Because черепок is the direct object of глазуровать, so it is in the accusative case.

For an inanimate masculine noun, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: черепок
• accusative: черепок

If it were animate, the accusative would usually match the genitive, but черепок is inanimate, so the form stays the same.

So:

• глазуровать что? → черепок

The subordinate clause comes first:

• Вопреки тому что глазурование отложили, ...

This fronting sets up the contrast before we get to the main point:

• гончар всё же начал глазуровать черепок

That word order is very natural when the speaker wants to frame the main action against a background condition.

Russian word order is flexible, so other arrangements are possible, but this version is good for emphasis:

1. first the obstacle or contrary circumstance
2. then the surprising action that happened anyway

That matches the logic of although X, still Y very well.