The Copper Glaze Gallery

      This gallery contains pottery glazed with glazes which all contain copper oxide as the main (or only) mineral supplying color. We formulate and make our glazes which makes them unique to our work. Copper was the first metal to be worked by man, and was know in Egypt as early as 3000 B.C. It was used in early glazes to give the turquoise of Egyptian fainece (luster), the green-blue of Islamic pottery and the greens of Chinese lead-glazed * tomb ware.
       A copper red glaze of fine quality is one of the most elusive to achieve, and difficult to repeat with consistency. Copper oxide, which is a red-brown or black, or copper carbonate which is a light greenish color, is reduced to free copper in its metallic form and so produces a vivid red.
      The skill of obtaining copper red colors in a high-fired kiln, is associated with Chinese Ming potters who developed the technique during the reign of Hsuan-Te (1426-1435). The rich tomato red color obtained by this method was used with great effect on delicate stem cups. Control over the color was difficult and the red designs were limited to fish or fruit. Even earlier, the Chun pots of the Sung dynasty decorated with splashes and blushes of copper red indicate the technique was within their grasp despite their limited use of it. Copper oxide in reduction glazes produces that unique color known as copper red, oxblood (sang de bouef), peach bloom, or flambé. (* Our glazes Do Not   contain lead)

Click on an image to see a larger view and description of the piece.