Edy Lynn on sun 28 mar 04
I bought what I thought was a low dish planter in a thrift store, which =
I haunt frequently, and it's design and such were so that I couldn't =
imagine it being used for food but lo and behold, on the bottom was the =
statement next to the maker/designer, "microwave and dishwasher safe" =
which I assume means it would be OK to be used for food. It was =
small enough that I did not notice it when I was looking for a =
manufacturer and its price but it was there.
If one makes a functional piece but uses a "dangerous" glaze should they =
not put some sort of permanent warning on it like these people put on =
this that it was ok for food use? Just a little "not intended for use =
with food" label, stamp or penmanship?=20
Just a thought......
Edy Lynn
piedpotterhamelin@COMCAST.NET on sun 28 mar 04
On one note, there is such a legal arguement concerning "implied warranty". This goes for ceramic windchimes that are prone to breaking but simply are pretty so that doesn't matter, functional shapes (maybe not intended for more than being a dust collector) with toxic glazes but don't state that or any of the other risky ceramics made that people ignore.
Edy's Ice Cream issued a recall last week because it failed to note on the label the warning that this particular ice cream contained peanuts.
The ice cream was Peanut Butter Cup. Duh, they had to SPELL IT OUT to the consumer.
People need to tell people the facts. Not what you think that they want to hear. Responsibility...period.
Shoot, was I talking about pottery or politics?
This is why ClayArt is such an important instrument and should remain an open forum for discussion. The casual ceramist, the boisterous brickmaker, the timid tile maker, the slime ball slipcaster, the impolite potter and the risk taking raku potter learn here and become informed and intimidated into doing the right things. Without this site the uninformed remain and are allowed to perpetuate the false information that others here feel is their role to illuminate, adjust and correct.
Thank you Acers, Mel and whoever you are that know what it is about.
Rick
--
"Many a wiser men than I hath
gone to pot." 1649
Don Kopyscinski on mon 29 mar 04
Hi Everyone,
Rick, piedpotterhamelin@COMCAST.NET writes:
<label the warning that this particular ice cream contained peanuts.
The ice cream was Peanut Butter Cup. Duh, they had to SPELL IT OUT to the
consumer.>>
I advocate responsible behavior and full disclosure, when it comes to
questionable glazes. Sometimes even that doesn't help. Let me share a weird
conversation I had with a man (by all appearances normal), at a show, a few years ago.
He walked in my booth and immediately asked "Did you ever notice the finish
comes off these things?". "Mine?" I replied curiously. "No, just this type of
stuff, pottery stuff" he said matter-of-factly. I launched into a lesson in
glaze formulation. I offered details about balanced glazes, the importance of a
proper melt to ensure that all is bound up in the glassy matrix, types of
fluxes, colorants, and their proper use.
He nodded in agreement and seemed appreciative. Then he floored me with a
story about some mugs he had purchased, "Well, it did say on the bottom that it
contained lead and wasn't safe to be used for food. We figured, what the heck,
and used them anyway. At first the shine came off, but they still worked OK,
so that didn't bother us. Then one day, we noticed the whole finish was gone
on the inside. It just went away, nothing but clay color was left. My wife
said we had to get some new ones, so we did."
He then told me that he was late and had to go. He was due on stage, because
he was in the band (Dixieland jazz type) due to play at the gazebo. I told
him, "We really need to talk about this!", and asked him to please return to my
booth after their set was over. Alas, he never did return to the booth. He
probably couldn't find me again (I was 75 feet away). Away he strolled, happy as a
lark.
This was a very frustrating day.
(At least he wasn't eating off that silica starved "rhodes 32" the old timers
still hang on to.)
Best Regards,
Don Kopyscinski
Bear Hills Pottery
Newtown, CT
DonKopy@aol.com
Ron Roy on tue 30 mar 04
Hi Edy,
Exactly the right thing to do - if it absorbes water then it should have a
warning - like "gets hot when microwaved" or"not for use with food" or "not
for use with liquids." What could be simpler - if you don't intend it to be
used for certain things just say so. If you don't know what you are doing -
then get smarter of find someone who does know.
The law here in Canada says you have to impress the text into the clay when
it's glazed with lead and/or cadmium - and regulates the size if the text
as well - so you can't miss it.
For every pot that fails to perform for it's intended use - we stand to
lose another buyer of hand made pottery - in other words we screw ourselves
and a lot of other potters at the same time.
This is all so self evident I can't believe anyone would quesion the logic
behind it.
The only reason I can think of - that any potter would not want to make
ware that is suited to it's intended function - is that it's too much
trouble to do it right in the first place.
Mind you - I suppose there are those who will say - it's OK because it's
always been done that way - and no interest in making things better. They
should be doing something else than wrecking the name of functional clay
pots.
RR
>I bought what I thought was a low dish planter in a thrift store, which I
>haunt frequently, and it's design and such were so that I couldn't
>imagine it being used for food but lo and behold, on the bottom was the
>statement next to the maker/designer, "microwave and dishwasher safe"
>which I assume means it would be OK to be used for food. It was
>small enough that I did not notice it when I was looking for a
>manufacturer and its price but it was there.
>If one makes a functional piece but uses a "dangerous" glaze should they
>not put some sort of permanent warning on it like these people put on
>this that it was ok for food use? Just a little "not intended for use
>with food" label, stamp or penmanship?
>Just a thought......
>Edy Lynn
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513
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