Redware Pottery is an Art Form
Cedar City Redware Pottery Process
Using multiple tools and techniques, Cedar City Redware Pottery is formed and fashioned by hand as it was by early American potters. Vessels are created on a potter's wheel which is termed "throwing" or "turning." Plateware is made by either throwing or "slabbing" the clay, a process in which clay is rolled out into flat sheets, smoothed and decorated. When decorating pottery, the potters use techniques such as quilling, marbling or combing. Another technique called Sgraffito, is a process in which colored liquid clay or "slip" is applied to the surface of the clay and then removed by etching away the slip, exposing the clay body, hence creating a designed pottery piece. After the pottery is decorated they are put aside until bone dry. Then the glazing and accenting oxides are applied and the work is fired in a kiln. After firing, each pottery piece is distressed which creates the appearance of a body of work that has survived centuries. Glazing True to the glaze compositions used by potters during the 17th and 18th centuries, Cedar City Redware pottery continues to use historic lead glazes. We now know that the lead glazes can "leach," or release from the glaze itself and contaminate food. Lead glazes, though very sensitive and difficult to control at times, produce brilliant and translucent glossy colors which cannot be obtained with other glaze formulations. CEDAR CITY REDWARE POTTERY CONTAINS LEAD AND IS INTENDED FOR DECORATION ONLY. DO NOT USE WITH FOOD. |
||
 |
||
| Redware pottery in this tradition is a "folk art" form. Made by people for people. Enjoy the art work as you would any art. Handcrafted redware pottery is a must for those who enjoy the feeling of yesterday in today's world. Add a piece of historically correct redware pottery to a curly maple accent table and see the beauty pop! |
||
|
||