Rat poison glazed |
|
One of our assignments was to try to duplicate someone else's work. I loved a big rimmed barium glazed bottle by Delan Cookson. This is my take on his vase. The vase was a learning experience to throw the top as a separate piece. My top was not as wide as his and the glaze did not exactly match but was none the less very pleasing. At the December clay sale, everyone cooed over it and had to pick it up.
I got up my nerve to mix the barium glaze with my chemist husband's advice on how not to poison myself. Barium carbonate was used as rat poison. Once fired it is insoluble and no more dangerous than a lead glaze. Soluble barium salts are not nice. You safely receive an insoluble barium salt in the infamous barium enema. |
Twisted barium glazed vase |
| I threw 5 big rimmed vases in all. This was a failure whose curves talked to me. So I prettied it up and here it is. Clay when it is about to collapse does some interesting things. Note the darker blue inside the rim. The Potters Dictionary by the Hamers mentioned that the original Cookson vase was sprayed with extra cobalt carbonate. I tried several version of cobalt glazes on the rims of my various pots and found that pure cobalt carbonate mixed with brushing media (bentonite and cmc gum) was closest to the picture. |