Contemporary Handmade English Ceramics, Ships, Fish and Whale

The 1” square sailboat is white earthenware, NBS large. The white earthenware galleon and the whale are 1 1/8”, NBS medium. The terra cotta fish is 1 1/16”, NBS medium, a William DeMorgan design.

The buttons were hand made in England using a triple firing process. The first firing is to about 1800 degrees centigrade to “biscuit” fire the raw clay. The buttons are then painted with a glaze and fired again to about 1100 degrees centigrade to melt the glaze to a glossy finish. A specially created ceramic transfer is then applied and the button is fired a third time. This firing allows the decal to sink into the glazed surface and become an integral part of the button. There is a lot of potential for things to go wrong so opening the kiln can sometimes reveal a surprise!