Tiny ewer of success!

 The tiny ewer came out of the kiln yesterday and I couldn’t be more pleased. I thin this is one of those objects that will just make me smile for years to come. I love how well the sultanabad pattern I designed came out. It is perfect for the ballooned shape of the jug.

I also love the spout. I was never really happy with the elongated original. It wasn’t quite like the reference pictures and I didn’t like the balance. It was going to be a lot of work to modify once it’s been fired to bisque and I wasn’t confidant I’d be able to maintain the balance of the piece.

Once a bulk of the lip had accidentally chipped off, I sanded it back and cleaned it up with a kitchen scourer. One fresh coat of clear gloss later and lovely! So much happier and so glad an accident made the object even better than I was original planning.

Albarello London delft attempt

I love the Iznik inspired designs used on some London delft earthernware items. The concept of a design and motifs from China, inspiring craftspeople in Turkey whose objects then inspire craftspeople in Renaissance England and then inspire me is just delightful.

I thought I'd try the design below on one of the albarello's I made during Covid lockdown. I used white clay so an white underglaze was overkill. White underglaze would have also made the blue glaze more likely to bleed and introduces problems with glaze thickness. Cobalt blue seemed like the best colour to utilise in this design. Spoiler alert: blue on white glaze is also my favourite pallet by far.

The Iznik inspired design on this jar is delightful. London Delft blue and white jar. 1600-1640. Christies. Auction 2515, lot 68. 

Khorassan ewer of tinyness III

The tiny Chinese jar is done! I’m pretty happy with how the blue on blue shading worked out. I think I’ll be using that approach again.

Unfortunately the ewer suffered a chipping prior to being loaded into the kiln. Happily, the team at Claymake made the right call and didn’t fire it so I could rescue it. I considered the PVA and glaze welding truck but the lip of a the spout would be under too much strain from gravity to stick before the glaze melted. Instead, I grabbed my trusty dust mask and some sand paper and reshaped the lip. I’m actually a lot happier with the result than I was with the original shape. I make have to make a master of this so I can slip cast some more.

I guess it’s not even close to a Khorassan ewer now. It’s a pleasing shape, I wonder if I can find any medieval examples closer to this shape. Can’t wait to see the glaze results!