John Baymore on wed 27 oct 99
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Does anybody out there know where I could look to find information on kiln
furniture used in the early 19th century to stack redware pots in old time
bottle kilns?
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Steve,
Back a long, LONG time ago.........15-18 years????............ I did
consulting work on a period reconstruction of a US colonial era redware
bottle kiln for Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. Stubridge
Village is a living history museum... the folks there all are =22in
character=22 and live life like it used to be while the public wanders =
around
and talks to them about their =22lives=22. Of course, the potters made pots
............. wearing the clothes that the tailors made........the kiln had
all hand forged banding made by the Village smithies.....and so on.
Been a long time but I am assuming that the large kiln is still there and
some of the research notes are still filed away somewhere in a filing
cabinet (or a shoebox). They may have notes on any shelves. What I
remember is only stacking with the ware boxed...... foot to lip....etc. and
in basic handmade saggers. No shelves. Unglazed spots left for
stacking.....and so on.
For many years it was fired once or twice a year with the public around
........ with the bulk of the redware production being done in electric
kilns =22out of sight=22 of the public the rest of the time =3Cg=3E.
I don't have the phone number handy or remember who was =22in =
charge=22.....but
they are probably not there now anyway =3Cg=3E. If you call eastern MA
information (617) for =22Old Sturbridge Village=22 I am SURE it is listed.
Call and tell them what you are interested in and see what you get. Maybe
you can visit???
I still remember being there with the potters for the first firing......
they of course were all in period clothes.... and I kept having to slap
myself every now and then to remember what year it was =3Cg=3E. At least I =
was
dry in my modern rain coat......they were soaked. When we decided we
needed a longer tool to rake the coals.....they had to get the local
=22smithies=22 to make something.... couldn't just run down to the hardware
store =3Cbg=3E. Interesting experience.
Ah.... the good old days=21
Hope this is a lead.
BEst,
........................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore=40compuserve.com
John.Baymore=40GSD-CO.COM
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