The ancient, time honored tradition of combing clay
and fire
Since around 5000 B.C. civilizations from all over the world have been putting
clay into fire to make all sorts of items such as cups, plates, jars, tokens,
and decorative items.
This process has since evolved into one of the most creative forms of artistic
expression know to man.
House and Garden Ceramics use some of the same techniques to produce our pottery
that have been used for thousands of years. Of course technology has advanced
over time, and more ingredients are available to make pottery more beautiful.
But one thing is for sure you have to have clay.
Of course clay comes from the ground. It is made of many minerals, plant life,
and decomposed animals. Over a long period of time, water pressure breaks down
all of the plant life and minerals, crushing them in to very fine particles.
Bigger pieces are filtered out through rocks and sand, leaving the remains
to settle in to beds of clay.
The three most common types of clay are earthenware, stoneware, and kaolin.
Earthenware, or low fire clay, contains many minerals and some sand and small
bits of rock. Because of its many impurities, earthenware melts at a cooler
temperature than other clays. It is fired in a temperature range of 1,700 to
2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. This type of clay is commonly used to make terra
cotta pottery, and roofing tiles.
Stoneware is a much harder clay that is fired to temperatures between 2100
and 2300 degrees Fahrenheit. Historically stoneware was used to produce crocks
and jugs but now is typically used to make dinnerware.
Kaolin is the purest clay of all. Kaolin has very few impurities and is the
main ingredient used in making porcelain. Fired porcelain can become very hard
and translucent, its melted surface becoming so smooth and shiny that a glaze
is not needed. . Kaolin is a high fire clay, needing heat from 2300 to 2550
degrees Fahrenheit to vitrify.
When clay is heated to very high temperatures, the silica content of the clay
vitrifies, making a glass product, very hard and waterproof. The original purpose
for this ancient process was to produce storage containers for liquids, oils,
and fish sauces that are still used in many of the local Thai and Vietnamese
dishes today.
Our process:
Making pottery is a very fine art. The knowledge of how to produce this art
is passed down from generation to generation as is the knowledge of the land
and where to find the best clay.
The first step in producing our pottery is to find the best quality clay.
We leave this crucial step up to the local people
The raw clay is then fed into a machine and it is mixed with water. The machine
then strains out all of the loose impurities such as dirt and small rocks.
This process is then repeated to ensure that we use only the best clay.
The clay is then fed into a pug mill which makes the clay into cylindrical
rolls.
After the clay has been allowed to dry and weather, it is thoroughly wedged
by hands and feet to rid it of any air. This is very hard work and takes a
great deal of experience.
We then form the clay into the various shapes and sizes we use for our pottery.
We use many methods to achieve this. Some of our pottery is placed on a potter's
wheel and formed. The potter's wheel was invented by the Sumerians / Chinese
around 5,000 B.C. They are thought to have been in operation even before wheels
were used for transportation. We also use the slab building method. A large
roll of clay is flattened into a square slab. The slab is then cut into rectangles
and placed on the inner walls of a pre-formed mold. The slabs are attached
together with a moist clay.
The unfinished pots are then dried to what we call leather hard. After this
initial hardening the posts are then decorated and trimmed by our very skilled
artists. We then let the pots dry for several weeks.
After the pieces are dried, they then go through a rigorous inspection process
by the potter. Even if the most minor of imperfections is found, the pot is
smashed. Pieces which have passed inspection are now glazed.
There are many types of glazes we use. Many are made from materials such as
the ash
from straw , or iron oxide rich soil from the mountains. When the pot is fired
the glaze vitrifies and covers the piece with a glass like membrane and takes
on a beautiful coloring. Our artists are able to produce the most beautiful
running blues
and greens, aqua's, cobalt's, and just about every color you can imagine.
We then prepare to stack the pots in the kilns for the main firing. We use
Dutch beehive, and Noborigama incline kilns. We use wood and rice husks for
the fuel for our kilns. These specialized wood firings can take a week to complete.
The fire is started with logs of wood and the kiln is stoked every five minutes.
The fire is kept burning 24 hours a day for about 3 days and then the potter
lets the fire burn out. The heat from the firing remains in the kilns for several
more days or until the clay is matured. The temperatures for firing usually
range from 1700 degrees to 2600 degrees Fahrenheit. The pots get so hot from
the flames, they glow like charcoal in a BBQ.
The times and temperatures vary for different types of pots and the finishes
or glazes they have. Some pots require higher firing temperatures and longer
firing times. After the firing process the kiln is then left to cool for several
more days. If the kiln is opened to soon the pots will crack and break. After
the kiln is opened, the pots are taken out to be inspected again. Sometimes
a pot will crack in the firing process and we make sure that none of these
make it to the customer.
The finished pots are then categorized in groups according to the glaze color,
the style, and the different textures. Some of our pots go on to have additional
features added on to them, such as our Amphora and Old Stone series.
We are constantly experimenting with new glaze color combinations. Sometimes
we try to get a certain color, but something completely different comes out
that we actually find very beautiful and can not wait to share it with our
customers.
We at House & Garden Ceramics take pride in the fact that we are an innovator
of new designs and we also care greatly about our customer's ideas and their
own designs that they would like to see made.
