Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman on wed 27 aug 97
Hello Clayarters-
Does anyone know what "Egyptian Firing" is, or where I can find
information about it. I gather it is a type of pit firing, possibly a 2
chambered type of pit, that may involve either saggars and/or applying a
type of paste to bisque ware. This paste would then be removed after pit
firing. Sorry to be so vague, but that's all I know. I saw some
attractive pieces that looked pit fired, which had the descrptian
"Egyptian Fired". The artist was very vague about what was involved.
TIA
Bonnie Hellman (still on vacation in Colorado)
From University of California Professor Robert Silensky:
"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters
will
eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
Internet, we know this is not true."
Kenneth D Westfall on thu 28 aug 97
Bonnie,
I'm not sure, but I suspect you are referring to what is commonly known
as Egyptian Paste. This is a clay which bears a high amount of soluble
salts. The pieces are formed (which can be quite caustic to one's skin)
and then when left to air dry, develope salt crystals on the surface.
These salt crystals, in essence, form the glaze when fired. It is
necessary to use talc or wad clay on the bottoms to prevent the pieces
from being glazed onto the shelf. You can get some great colors
(turquios blue is the most easily achieved) this way. Look for recipes
in the Daniel Rhodes book, "Clay & Glazes for the Potter" to get you
started. Remember, the raw clay can give you a salt burn, take caution
not to rub your face, etc. while working with this. The firing can be
done in an electric kiln, though, it was pit fired in ancient Egypt.
Probably ^08 will be hot enough, but basically, you fire til the glaze
melts, which you can see when it turns very glossy in the spy-hole.
Kenneth D. Westfall
Pine Hill Pottery
potter-ken@juno.com
Don't get stuck in the mud pies K&T
Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman on sat 30 aug 97
Kenneth-
Thanks for the reply, but my understanding of Egyptian paste is that it
is a "self glazing" clay. What I was told about is a paste which is
scraped off the "fired pot" after the firing in an Egyptian kiln. The
finished pots were unglazed and had smoke/pink/rusty orange marks on
them. I believe the ones that were more extensively covered with this
paste had only gray smoke patterns.
Bonnie
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Bonnie,
>I'm not sure, but I suspect you are referring to what is commonly known
>as Egyptian Paste. This is a clay which bears a high amount of soluble
>salts. The pieces are formed (which can be quite caustic to one's skin)
>and then when left to air dry, develope salt crystals on the surface.
>These salt crystals, in essence, form the glaze when fired. It is
>necessary to use talc or wad clay on the bottoms to prevent the pieces
>from being glazed onto the shelf. You can get some great colors
>(turquios blue is the most easily achieved) this way. Look for recipes
>in the Daniel Rhodes book, "Clay & Glazes for the Potter" to get you
>started. Remember, the raw clay can give you a salt burn, take caution
>not to rub your face, etc. while working with this. The firing can be
>done in an electric kiln, though, it was pit fired in ancient Egypt.
>Probably ^08 will be hot enough, but basically, you fire til the glaze
>melts, which you can see when it turns very glossy in the spy-hole.
>
>Kenneth D. Westfall
>Pine Hill Pottery
>potter-ken@juno.com
>Don't get stuck in the mud pies K&T
From University of California Professor Robert Silensky:
"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters
will
eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
Internet, we know this is not true."
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