Smoke Fired Pinch Pot
My ceramics are handbuilt. This pinch pot bowl is made from grey earthstone handbuilding material. I then apply the texture and model the dish into shape with my hands. At leather hard the dish is carefully burnished and coated with grey terra sigillata slip. After biscuit firing, the design is painted on using a basic slip. Then it’s to the bonfire… Always unpredictable. The smoke firing blackens the pot with carbon and creates a wonderful tactile surface on the naked clay. Once cooled the piece is scrubbed, the basic slip applied pre smoking is washed away revealing the design in the colour of the terra sigillata. Finally, after being throughly dried, the pots are polished with beeswax.
Each piece has an individual design using texture and markings.
My ceramics are handbuilt. This pinch pot bowl is made from grey earthstone handbuilding material. I then apply the texture and model the dish into shape with my hands. At leather hard the dish is carefully burnished and coated with grey terra sigillata slip. After biscuit firing, the design is painted on using a basic slip. Then it’s to the bonfire… Always unpredictable. The smoke firing blackens the pot with carbon and creates a wonderful tactile surface on the naked clay. Once cooled the piece is scrubbed, the basic slip applied pre smoking is washed away revealing the design in the colour of the terra sigillata. Finally, after being throughly dried, the pots are polished with beeswax.
Each piece has an individual design using texture and markings.
My ceramics are handbuilt. This pinch pot bowl is made from grey earthstone handbuilding material. I then apply the texture and model the dish into shape with my hands. At leather hard the dish is carefully burnished and coated with grey terra sigillata slip. After biscuit firing, the design is painted on using a basic slip. Then it’s to the bonfire… Always unpredictable. The smoke firing blackens the pot with carbon and creates a wonderful tactile surface on the naked clay. Once cooled the piece is scrubbed, the basic slip applied pre smoking is washed away revealing the design in the colour of the terra sigillata. Finally, after being throughly dried, the pots are polished with beeswax.
Each piece has an individual design using texture and markings.
More details
My ceramics are handbuilt. This pinch pot is made from earthstone handbuilding material. It is 6 x 10cms. Each piece has an individual design using texture and markings. They are then carefully shaped and hand finished. The leather hard surface is burnished with a pebble has a terra sigillata slip applied. Then firied in an electric kiln to 940 degrees. The biscuit pots are decorated with a basic slip, which protects the covered areas from the smoke of the next firing. This is a purely decorative firing carried out in a bonfire bin. During this process the pots become blackened, results vary slightly from pot to pot. After cooling and scrubbing off the basic slip to expose the design, the pots are ready to dry and polish with beeswax. The terra sigillata with the beeswax gives the finished pot a warm tactile surface.
After Care: Polish occasionally with furniture polish Not suitable for water
