noel oard mapstead/keiko suga on thu 25 oct 01
in september 2001 at esalen institute, big sur, ca., where i teach
workshops in human bone glazing, i chanced on the glazing of whale bone
there was a marked difference in the whale bone glaze, versus human, deer,
dog and cat that i have glazed in the workshops
i surmize that whale contains a larger perctange of phophorus and other
metal and non-metal constiuents resulting from a life in the ocean rather
than on land
noel oard mapstead
www.mapstead.com/noel
Sheryl VanVleck on fri 26 oct 01
At last, someone to answer the question I have wondered for years now.
I am a mystery fan and in a mystery I read some years ago, they had a body
being disposed of in a kiln. It was said to turn the pots a lovely red
glaze. Of course they didn't go into what glaze was on their to begin with
(at least that I remember), but Noel, at Esalen Institute, do you have an
answer for this? Or does anyone. (Not that I have any bodies laying around
to try mind you.)
Sheryl
Wyoming
Wade Blocker on fri 26 oct 01
Sheryl,
This story is attributed to a Chinese potter who could not replicate the
reduction copper red glaze.for the emperor. He threw himself into the
kiln, and the resulting glazes were all red.Mia in ABQ
Martin Howard on sat 27 oct 01
Sheryl, there are many stories about hares, rabbits and potters being
incinerated in the kiln.
When I have a group young boys for a Pottery Party, they get some variation
on the Chinese potter and his red glazes, which were formed because there
was a body of some kind in the kiln, first a hare, then the potter in
desperation himself, causing reduction to the light copper glazes. The
wicked Emperor was given some red pots, due to a hare getting into the kiln
when the potters back was turned (I extend the story so that a fox is
chasing the hare); Emperor demands more of these lovely red glazes: potter
works had works but fails to produce: Emperor gives him one more month, else
off with his head: potter commits goes into kiln himself:
Emperor is very pleased by cannot find potter to thank him:
Fox and hare cross the path of the Emperor's wagon as the pots are taken
away.
Adapt as you wish!!
Martin Howard
Webbs Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
01371 850 423
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
http://www.webbscottage.co.uk
This web-site is being updated NOW!
Janet Kaiser on sat 27 oct 01
Who volunteers to test for a Ludefisk glaze? I bet it
would galvanise interest in studio pottery for miles
around! :-)
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
Alisa og Claus Clausen on sun 28 oct 01
Hey Janet, you are on.
I do not mind, because with ludefisk, one must, and I repeat must, drink
Aquavit.
So it is.
I learned this from some of the best Norwegian bosses I ever had.
Christmas also ran an entire week when at sea.
Best regards, Alisa in Denmark
where Ludefisk is not a Christmas tradition...
At 00:34 27-10-01 +0100, you wrote:
>Who volunteers to test for a Ludefisk glaze? I bet it
>would galvanise interest in studio pottery for miles
>around! :-)
Earl Brunner on mon 29 oct 01
There is a story of the potter who out of frustration, threw his
apprentice into the kiln....
Fay & Ralph Loewenthal wrote:
> Dear Sheryl, there is a story of a chinese potter who,
> accidently, or one of his apprentices put wood into the
> kiln itself while firing and he got this beautiful red glaze.
> No matter what he tried he could not repeat the beautiful
> red glaze. Eventually, out of frustration, he threw himself
> into the kiln. Of course the most beautiful red glaze was
> on the pots when they opened the kiln. This story was in
> Clayart some years ago. I assume that the glaze had
> copper in it and it reduced.
> Kind regards from Ralph in Cape Town.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
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>
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--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec/
bruec@anv.net
Fay & Ralph Loewenthal on mon 29 oct 01
Dear Sheryl, there is a story of a chinese potter who,
accidently, or one of his apprentices put wood into the=20
kiln itself while firing and he got this beautiful red glaze.
No matter what he tried he could not repeat the beautiful
red glaze. Eventually, out of frustration, he threw himself
into the kiln. Of course the most beautiful red glaze was
on the pots when they opened the kiln. This story was in=20
Clayart some years ago. I assume that the glaze had=20
copper in it and it reduced.=20
Kind regards from Ralph in Cape Town.
GlassyClass on tue 30 oct 01
Been searching, finally found it again.
Bud
http://members.tripod.com/~andavall/potterstale.html
The Story of the Making of the Holy Grail
THE STORY OF THE MAKING OF THE HOLY GRAIL
(Adapted from legends of Japanese folklore)
Under the mountain lived a village of potter's. The rivers of old had
deposited a beautiful natural clay that would work well in the potter's
hand. The forests on the west side of the mountain grew an oak and maple
hard wood that burned for hours . On the north slope a forest of pine and
cedar provided a wood to achieve the extremes of heat necessary for the best
glazes that the kilns could produce. Between the forests lay a meadow of
straw that the potters used to make ashes for their most famous glazes. The
river cut a valley of sedimentary rocks that allowed the potters to gather
any minerals they needed for their glazes. Generation upon generation of
potters learned the traditions of the craft and passed them along. This
little village produced the finest ware in all the world.
So the Emperor would come to see the pots that came from these kilns each
year. He would select the finest pots for his collection. This village
produced a most beautiful black iron glaze. The potters used the ashes from
their kilns' fire pits with an iron bearing clay to make this most prized
glaze.
Now as luck would have it one year, a family of badgers built a den in the
fire pits during the fallow months of winter. In the spring, the badgers
were consumed by the flames of the first firing. The potters swept up the
ashes which included the bones of the badgers. They used this ash in their
glazes to make six cups. Much to their surprise and delight, when next they
fired their kilns these few pots were bright iron red. They knew not the
cause of the change in their glaze.
When the Emperor saw these pots, he immediately took all of them. The
Emperor took the beautiful iron red pots to his palace and showed them to
his court and visitors from far and near. A young man of exceptional words
was visiting his court. Thou this stranger was simply dressed in a white
robe and sandals, his words of peace and love so impressed the Emperor that
he gave him the simple iron red cups. The Prophet blessed the Emperor with
water from one of the cups. Immediately he was healed of his wounds of old
battles. Unfortunately, an argument over the cups erupted and by accident,
the cups were broken. The father of his bride to be thought the cups were
magical and wished to have cups like these. His future inlaw was so
disappointed that the Emperor had not given him the cups that he refused to
permit his daughter to marry the Emperor until the Emperor promised to give
him a set of red cups.
The Emperor sent word to the potters' village to send him an order of red
cups. The potters were very dismayed. What could they do? They did not know
the secret of the red glaze and they could not disappoint the Emperor. They
did nothing and hoped the Emperor would forget his order of red cups. The
Emperor visited the potters and was disappointed they did not have his red
cups. They gave him some beautiful black and green and blue cups instead.
Meanwhile, the father of his bride to be was furious. He still did not have
his red cups. He refused to let the Emperor marry his daughter until the
emperor gave him a red cup. The Emperor went to the village of potters. He
told them they had to make more of his most prized red glaze. Of course the
potters could not produce the glaze because they did not know the secret of
using bone ashes in the glaze. They did not know what to do. They tried
everything they knew to make a red cup. Still the pots were not red because
they lacked the ingredient of bone ash in the glaze to make the pots red.
The Emperor came back again. He was extremely angry this time. His bride to
be could not become his wife until the potters gave him his red cups. The
potters were in an awful fright. No matter what they did, they did not have
a red glaze to make the cups with. The emperor could not be satisfied unless
he had red cups. The potters tried one last time to make the red cups. They
carefully mixed the glazes from the same materials as before and applied the
glazes in the same manner as before. They made many experiments and loaded
their kilns with all their experiments. They fired the kilns to the same
temperature with the same combination of woods and the same reducing
atmosphere in the kilns. The next day as the pots cooled, they could see
that there would be no red cups. The Emperor was so angry he called the head
potter of the village to him and told him that if he did not make the red
glaze again he would kill everyone in the village. The potter was so ashamed
that he threw himself into the cooling embers of the fire pit to save the
lives of all the villagers.
The Emperor still was not satisfied. He told the potters he would be back in
one month and they would all die or he would have his red cups and they
would live. Now when the potters made glazes next, they had to use the ashes
that contained the remains of their old friend and father. They loaded the
kilns as before and fired. Magically the pots were bright red!! They
realized that not only had he sacrificed himself, but he had become the pots
that he could not make. They found the secret of the red glaze was the ash
of bones. They gave the Emperor a set of bright red grails made from the
ashes of the potter. The Emperor was pleased and married his bride in the
spring. The holy Prophet blessed the new couple with water from the grail
and in the following year, the couple was blessed with children. The father
of the bride was so pleased that he gave the prophet one of the grails.
Russell Andavall
The FireGod
Russell Andavall
andavall@pacbell.net
FireGod Arts
#4 1250 57th Ave
Oakland, Ca 94521
United States
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fay & Ralph Loewenthal"
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 8:17 AM
Subject: Re: whale bone glaze
Dear Sheryl, there is a story of a chinese potter who,
accidently, or one of his apprentices put wood into the
kiln itself while firing and he got this beautiful red glaze.
No matter what he tried he could not repeat the beautiful
red glaze. Eventually, out of frustration, he threw himself
into the kiln. Of course the most beautiful red glaze was
on the pots when they opened the kiln. This story was in
Clayart some years ago. I assume that the glaze had
copper in it and it reduced.
Kind regards from Ralph in Cape Town.
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