GENERAL INFORMATION:
Our pottery, since it is all handmade and hand decorated, has natural variation to it; no two pieces will be absolutely identical.The pottery is made to be used as well as collected.
All pieces are lead-free. Redware or green-glazed wares can be used
in a regular oven, and may be put directly into a preheated oven. Small pieces of redware or green-glazed wares may be used in a microwave,
though all pottery wears out much quicker if used in a microwave oven. Pieces over about 4" wide should not be used in the microwave.
Our salt glazed stoneware should not be used in either type of oven.
Pottery should be handwashed.
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REDWARE:
Our redware retains the look and color of the old redware, and ranges from very plain to very fancy.
We use an old decorating technique called "slip trailing" to decorate our pots with different colors of clays.
A clear glaze is then applied, through which the natural reddish orange of the clay, and the colors of the slips,
can be seen.
Remember that redware is by nature somewhat porous.
It will hold liquid for a period of time, but is not recommended for long-term storage of liquids.
Also, redware will absorb some water when it washed;
be sure it is thoroughly dry before storing it in a tight cupboard.
Redware is excellent for use in baking dishes.
Heat penetrates well through the red clay, and cooks food evenly.
In the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries, the bulk of the pottery baking dishes were of redware.
Redware was the earliest type of pottery made by European settlers in North Carolina.
Many kinds of clay could be made to 'make do' for redware,
whereas the salt-glazed stonewares required a clay which would fire to a very high temperature.
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SALT-GLAZED STONEWARE:
The process of salt glazing developed originally in Germany. From there, it spread to other western European countries, and was introduced in North America when the continent was colonized by Europeans.
When salt glazing pottery, unglazed wares are placed in the kiln and heated to a very high temperature. At that point, salt is thrown into the hot kiln; the salt vaporizes, fuming throughout the kiln interior, and combines with the clay of the pottery, forming a natural glaze on all the pots.
Salt glazed stoneware is a more durable product than redware. It is physically stronger, can take more abuse, and is more impervious to liquids.
Patterns of reduction in the kiln give pots the same variations of color as the salt glaze of colonial and
early America - anything from a light cream or gray color,to a dark brown. Where wood ash settles on the pots, the glaze may have a greenish or yellowish hue. Most of our salt glazed pottery is undecorated. Many of the early styles of salt glazed wares are dipped in an iron-bearing slip before firing, pushing them even more towards the brown end of the color range. Each pot will look a little different from the next, depending on how the flame passes through the stacked pottery.
Our salt glazed pots are stacked in the kiln in the old style, rim to rim on top of each other.
This leaves "stacking marks" on the rims of most items - smooth, but a slightly different color than
the rest of the rim.
Early salt glazed pottery, made before 1850, generally had no interior glaze other than that
which naturally occurred in the salting process. (In our own area of N.C.,
this practice was continued through the 1930's.) In our attempt to be historically accurate,
we also add no additional glaze. This means that our ware cannot be depended upon to hold liquid for an
extended period of time without some slow seepage. Therefore, we do not recommend use of our
salt-glazed pottery for long-term storage of liquids, unless you are willing to put up with a little
historically accurate seepage!
Much of the early salt-glazed stoneware used in colonial America was made in Europe
and imported to the colonies. Some, however, was made in this country. After the American Revolution, salt glazed stoneware became increasingly an American product.
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Contact us:
Westmoore Pottery
Westmoore Community
4622 Busbee Road
Seagrove, N.C. 27341
Phone: 910-464-3700
E-mail:
westmoore@rtmc.net
Website © Westmoore Pottery, 2001
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