PERRY STEARNS on sun 10 aug 03
The Q. raised here is interesting to me...always looking for the best suite
of majolica glazes. D. Carnegy, in her (UK) book " Tin-glazed Earthenware",
p 79, gives 'a lead frit tin glaze' not much different from Reed's quoted
foreign glaze (wh I also saw, going thru Helen's mighty list). There are 2
issues here:
1. A frit to us is a mixture fired at high temps, ground to powder, one
purpose of wh is improving the bond of subsequent glaze mixtures. Both
Reed's quoted and Carnegy's printed receipt are talking raw lead.
2. Ferro Frits offers many lead frits, usu with item #s greater than 3300.
With most, warning is given re use on ware for food. See F. Gaydos' reprint
of most frit mfg. handouts. Nowhere in anyone's material is the difference
betwee plain pb, bi- , and sesqui-pb indicated. It likely doesn't matter.
Given that true frits are accompanied by cautions against food use, clearly
NO lead, fritted or raw, should be so used. Perhaps Reed's target (pun
intended) is cheap foreign imports. We are told that tests for bad glazes
are done routinely on foreign imports. In these days of relaxed regulation,
is this no longer true?
Fran Stearns
Fran Stearns
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