Oops

The illusive cones now sealed behind the bricks

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and a thought rushed through my brain, "Brenda, you forgot to leave an open brick to see those cones in the front!" After a pause this thought was followed by, "AGAIN!" Bricking up the front of the kiln is usually at the end of the day, likely just before dusk, and I tend to rush it. This is not the first time I have not left a peep hole to see the cones in the front of the kiln. The cones in the bottom left of the above photo are now invisible until I open the kiln. I suppose, on the bright side, they will still tell me whether that corner made it to temperature!  C'est la Vie. At least I remembered to put the tube in for the lower pyrometer. Another "oops" for this week was discovered when I was loading the kiln and I saw this on a flowerpot:

Upside down "stoneware"

I have been waiting for the day when this made it to the kiln stage. I've accidentally stamped upside down while demonstrating, and have chuckled over more than one piece of historic ceramic with upside down letters or names, but did not even realize I had done this until it was getting ready to go in! If you want some other great "oops" stories, check out Radiolab's show on other "oops" situations.

Decorating Bowls

 I mentioned making a new form this week and I finished up a few yesterday. I have based the shape off of 19th-century American milk pans. Because I have not put a lip on the rim though, I am not going to call these milk pans, and will just refer to them as bowls. That is, unless someone has a better idea! I wanted a shape that could be versatile either as a bowl for mixing, for putting apples or other items in, or for flower arranging. I think this shape might fit the bill.
I put big handles on the sides:

And then put some decorations on:

I made sure on most of them not to cover up the stamped letters. However, historically, most potteries that stamped their wares and did cobalt decorating did not seem to let this get in their way. Is it an aesthetic faux pas to cover up your shop name? Here is one bowl I did cover up the lettering, and I kind of like it. I also this this gives more room for larger designs.

Getting back to making some videos, here is a video of me stamping the bowls:

And here is a video of me painting the bowls:

A Loving Present

I've been anticipating the day I could share this with you all! Several friends recently had this beautiful bundle of joy named Nora:

When I heard they were expecting, I immediately started plotting the perfect baby present. What better thing for a pair of antique scholars than a modern-day loving cup?



Nottingham area loving cup from England, dated 1812. I really enjoy the incised lines and the roulette decoration on this.
http://www.petworthantiquecentre.co.uk/dealer-products.asp?pid=618&did=26&dealername=Deborah+Serpell

Historically, the loving cup was a two-handled vessel often presented for births, weddings, or other commemorative events. The equivalent would be a trophy by today's standards. In the ceramic world, the loving cups were often scratched with decorative motifs, dates, and names (not always!). I especially enjoy the ones made around the area of Nottingham, England which produced a rich brown salt-glazed stoneware.  Here is the version I made for Nora:

I did not extrude the handles, as I currently do not have an extruder, and wanted to try pulling a thinner handle to see how it would look.

Around the rim I used metal stamp letters to write a note to Nora:

The stamps read "Welcome to the World Nora"

I made a second one as well which had a larger rim, but chose to give Nora the more proportionate one. Or, as someone pointed out, if Nora ever knocks it off the shelf, I can send her the second one! Here is the second version:

                                                     

While the piece above has a higher rim than the other, I felt that with the placement of the handles, and the fact that the handles were pulled, made the other one look more proportioned. I thought (and hope!) this was a very loving gift to give to a very lovely little girl!