Using mica clay

I took some photos of the ware I have been making with low-fire mica clay. This is a commercial body from New Mexico Clay Co., is supposed to be what they Pueblo Indians used for cook pots, and I wanted to experiment with it.

Here are some photos of the pots after they have been thrown and previous to firing:

A variety of Medieval Cookware, serving bowls, skillets, pipkins, chafing dishes, and more in Mica Clay

A closer view of a pipkin from the mica clay. What looks like moisture is the reflection of the mica.

I am very anxious to try these out once they are fired.

Although New Mexico Clay was a good company to work with, shipping makes this clay impractical, my plan is to prospect around here for mica clay I hope soon.

Some pottery for March

I've been working on pottery that I will have at AnTir's Kingdom Arts and Sciences event, March 7-8th, 2009. I'm going to have a merchant's table there and hope to also have some of the pottery of my friends Gwen the Potter and blown glass pieces by Aelfgu.

The following pottery pieces are some of my most recent work out of the kiln.

I particularly like this jug. The soft colors are unusual and came out very successfully. The herringbone carved design is French in origin.

This pitcher-type is a very different style from the green and yellow baluster jug above. My spouted pouring vessels like this can also be used on direct heat.

I tried a few different things with this saucepan. It's thrown out of earthenware clay rather than stone ware and it's fired to a lower temperature more like period pottery. Unlike period pottery it has a food safe glaze that I formulated, and then again like period pottery for color I sprinkled some copper filings on the wet glaze to get that green speckle you see.

This pot is also intended for cooking in coals.

A simple cooking pot. Well, it should have been simple, but I couldn't resist carving some surface design on the pot. This will help the user hold onto it when it gets wet too.

Ceramic Cookware

Although Pipkins are a favorite, they aren't the only Medieval cooking pot. I make a variety of other Medieval cooking pots for the firepit or brazier too.

A very basic cooking pot is a round bottom piece. Simple ceramic cooking pots are literally found all over the world and all through time for cooking. A few show surface decoration, although it was probably to help the cook get a good grip on a slick piece of pottery. The Ashmolean Museum has some good examples of round-based cooking pots: http://potweb.ashmolean.org/PotChron2a.html

This little brown bowl on tripod feet is about 2 cups in capacity and can be used for various culinary work. I especially picture it for sauces or warming up a small amount of water.

The green pouring bowl is 2 qt. size and is also on three feet to fit on the coals. Of course, these bowls have many, many uses on the kitchen counter as well as on a firepit.

"Pre-industrial Utensils; 1150-1800" published by the Museum Baymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam is an excellent reference and the one I like for these bowls.

This is a good example of a skillet. With an interior of about 5" in diameter, this becomes an excellent size for a pancake or frying a couple of eggs. The handle is hollow for insulation like I make many of my pipkin handles. Although this fry pan is on tripod feet too, I also make them with a flat base. My favorite example of this in history is used in a painting by Pieter Aertsen titled "The Pancake Bakers".

The cauldron can be used for anything a pipkin can be used for. I particularly like them for baking, I just scoot mine to what looks like the optimum coals and keep an eye on the heat to insure the coals don't get too hot or cool down too much. There are many examples of medieval cauldrons, the Museum of London has some of my favorites, for example this "London Ware": http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/ceramics/pages/subcategory.asp?subcat_id=796&subcat_name=London%2Dtype+ware

You can see a bit of the tripod feet of this Norman spouted jug in this picture. A jug like this can heat water or warm up beverages in the coals. The Ashmolean has a couple of great examples in their "Pot Web" http://potweb.ashmolean.org/PotChron2a.html