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How
We Make Our Pottery |
"Thanks to
Ephraim Faience for continuing to make fine pottery in the unequaled
American crafting tradition. The global economy can take our jobs, our
real estate, and everything else - except for our talent. Talent is
something that belongs to an individual and is, by his or her choice,
shared with others."
B.B.,
Chicago, Illinois, via email
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True to the legacy of the
historic Arts and Crafts movement, each piece of Ephraim Faience pottery
is made completely by hand. In their small studio in Lake Mills,
Wisconsin, Ephraim's artists employ a unique collaborative process to design and create each
piece. The potters use earthenware and stoneware clays from the Midwest to throw and sculpt the forms.
The decorators formulate and mix the glazes and apply them to the forms.
This hands-on collaborative process results in art pottery of a
uniformly superior quality and has made Ephraim
Faience Pottery the leading art pottery of the Arts and Crafts Revival. |
Laura and
Eric discuss how to achieve
the desired glaze effects on a piece Laura designed
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All of our pieces are
created entirely by hand. The potter works the clay on a wheel,
"throwing" it into the desired form. The thrown, wet piece is
referred to as "green ware." The Ephraim Faience Pottery
mark is applied
to the foot (bottom) of the thrown clay form, which is then left to dry.
When the piece is firm enough to handle without collapsing, any
decoration is sculpted onto the piece. After the sculpting is complete,
the piece must then dry completely before it can be fired.
Drying usually takes from three to ten days, depending on the size of
the piece, the clay used, and the climatic conditions in the studio.
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Paul throwing an
extra-tall piece |
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When the piece is bone dry, it undergoes the
bisque firing, after which it is hard and is ready to be decorated. The decorator applies
the glazes, and the piece is fired again. Some pieces are glazed twice and
require two glaze firings.
After firing, the foot is ground to remove excess glaze. In most cases, the entire process
takes three to four weeks, if no problems, such as cracking or breaking, occur along the
way. The results of this labor-intensive process are the unique and stunning pieces shown
in our catalog. |
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Inspiration
for new pottery designs come from many places. Common sources of
inspiration include the fields and marshes around our studio, our own
backyards, pictures in books, the flora and fauna of the places we
travel to, old Arts and Crafts pottery, and bungalow and Prairie-style
architecture. The pottery is a very creative place, and there is no
shortage of new ideas.
The potters try to work some
time for experimentation into their schedules each week. After
those experimental pieces have been bisque fired, then it's the glazers'
turn to "play," trying out new glazes and glazing techniques. Only the
pieces that can be reproduced consistently will make it into our
catalog.
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Some sources of inspiration for pottery
designs |
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