katetiler on sat 29 jan 05
Hi Kate - I sure wish we lived nearer to each other!
http://www.katetiler.co.uk/Events.html
Has a picture of the cow's horn slip trailer that I use for decorating
tiles - The horn has the tip cut off - put something down into the
length of the horn to measure where the end of the solid tip is, pull
back a little and saw the end off, this leaves you a small hole at the
end of the horn. Then cut a goose feather quill to fit and TaDah!!! a
waterproof, reuseable slip trailer that you can drop onto a concrete
studio floor and it bounces! Makes a mess if it is full of slip though...
This design was one that I found when I started making tiles in the
Tudor style pottery at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk and after having used
a horn trailer I found, like you, that I just could't get on with
fiddle rubber things that kept needing re-filling.
I love your duck trailer! And the rest of your work, a really great
inspiration for me to meet someone else who is obsessed with slip &
honey glaze!
love Karen/Kate
Kate Johnson on sat 29 jan 05
Hi Kate/Karen and all the rest interested in slip trailing (Vince, Bonnie,
Lili, etc., did you ever use a cow horn?)
Subject: Re: Cow's Horn slip-trailer!
> Hi Kate - I sure wish we lived nearer to each other!
ME TOO. I've often thought that, in part because not only are we attemptig
to reproduce period pottery, or trying to, but we are involved in the
historical end of it as well--reproducing the life of a period _potter_,
even to dressing correctly when at historic sites. In other words, I won't
use anything at an historic site that would not have been used "then." It
takes a lot of research! (Though the home studio is a different matter, of
course. Quite willing to use plastic there...)
Historians have a word for what we do--experimental archaeology. Using
tools or techniques to find out what was done in the past. It's a somewhat
different discipline from a modern potter--but sometimes the answer is just
as germane to today's studio potter! The slip trailers, for instance--I
prefer the way they work to trying to squeeze out a line that's completely
uniform.
> http://www.katetiler.co.uk/Events.html
> Has a picture of the cow's horn slip trailer that I use for decorating
> tiles - The horn has the tip cut off - put something down into the
> length of the horn to measure where the end of the solid tip is, pull
> back a little and saw the end off, this leaves you a small hole at the
> end of the horn. Then cut a goose feather quill to fit and TaDah!!! a
> waterproof, reuseable slip trailer that you can drop onto a concrete
> studio floor and it bounces! Makes a mess if it is full of slip though...
Actually, I've been wanting to get hold of a cow horn to emulate just this
idea. (I've worked with horn before, making powder horns, salt horns,
medicament holders, small cups, but I've used up all my raw horn and they're
getting harder to find in the US since they consistently de-bud calves to
prevent horns.)
>
> This design was one that I found when I started making tiles in the
> Tudor style pottery at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk and after having used
> a horn trailer I found, like you, that I just could't get on with
> fiddle rubber things that kept needing re-filling.
Are you able to use lead glaze for them since they're not used with food?
>
> I love your duck trailer! And the rest of your work, a really great
> inspiration for me to meet someone else who is obsessed with slip &
> honey glaze!
It is nice to know we're not alone. Rick Hamelin and Rudy Tucker of this
list (among others!) are also very knowledgeable about this particular
direction. And of course that doesn't scratch the surface of those who hand
build or use slump or hump molds. Both Vince and Ivor have had some
marvelous insights into this, both on and offlist. Lots of expertise on the
list--and to me, there's no sense in RE-inventing the wheel if it's already
been invented, if you can find what the link is. In part, that's what lists
are for...
Are you familar with the _Ceramics in America_ series from the Chipstone
Foundation? A great deal of information on early pottery, techniques,
forms, usage, and usually at least one how-to. I'd love to know how late
the Medieval/Renaissance encaustic technique you use was popular--it's very
bold and interesting. I tried it a bit, inspired by your work, actually!
The inlay technique using slip in a similar manner was used in the 18th and
19th century on functional ware--very decorative, and you still see it in
ceramics books today...
Best--
Kate
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