Information about Salt Glaze

Pottery referred to as salt glazed or salted is created by adding common salt, sodium chloride, into the chamber of a hot kiln. Sodium acts as a flux and reacts with the silica in the clay body. A typical salt glaze piece has a glassine finish, usually with a glossy and slightly orange-peel texture, enhancing the natural colour of the body beneath it.

Technical process

Salt fumes have a dramatic effect on clay under heat. When kiln temperatures reach the melting point of common salt, approximately 900 °C (1660 degrees °F), granulated or rock salt can be introduced into a kiln through peepholes or other openings. This results in a surface blush of colour formed on the ware body. At higher temperatures, over 1280°C (2350°F), the traditional temperature of high fired salt ware, salt becomes an active vapor thoughout the kiln interior. A dilute form of hydrochloric acid is given off as a vaporous by-product.

First introduced in the 14th century, the process was initially used on earthenware which was fired from green to finished ware in a long, slow cycle. However, the process was soon adapted to stoneware, which can either be fired in a one fire cycle or in two stages, a "bisque" fire and a final "high" fire. This two stage process results in a semi-vitreous state at a lower bisque temperature. Ware is then allowed to cool to room temperature for decoration before a further firing.

Salt can also be used as a decorative element on selected individual pots. Bisque ware can be soaked in a brine solution to create salted patterns. Rope and other textiles can also be soaked in brine and wrapped around bisque ware. Salt can also be added, in solution, to colored clay slips and can be sprinkled onto bisque ware in pottery containers called saggars.

A related method, called soda firing, substitutes soda ash and/or sodium bicarbonate for salt and is an increasingly common alternative. Unlike salt, which will fume throughout the kiln, soda must be introduced in a manner that spreads it around the ceramic ware, such as by spraying. Soda glaze produces results similar to salt glaze, with subtle variations in texture and color.

History

The unique characteristics of salt glazing were discovered in the Rhineland of Germany, probably in the 14th century. Initially, the process was used on low fire earthenware. By the 15th century, small pottery towns near the Rhine, including Höhr-Grenzhausen, Siegberg, Cologne, and Raeren in Flanders, were producing a salt-glazed stoneware. (Nelson, p. 33-34) Ware was characterized by stamped medallions and the use of a cobalt oxide based colorant for decoration. Salt kilns were used extensively in western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in Germany, Scandinavia and the British Isles.

American salted stoneware

Salt ware was also popular during the colonial period in North America and in the early years of the United States. Initially, significant amounts of salt ware was imported from England. Americans began producing salt-glazed wares circa 1720 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Yorktown, Virginia. Stoneware articles included storage vessels for a wide range of consumables, such as water, soda, beer, meat, grain, jelly and pickled vegetables.

By the 1770s, the production of salt-glazed stoneware production had spread to many centers throughout the United States, most notably Manhattan, New York. It became the dominant houseware of the United States of America circa 1780-1890. By 1820, stoneware was being produced in virtually every American urban center, with potters from Baltimore, Maryland, in particular raising the craft to its pinnacle.

In the last half of the nineteenth century, potters in New England and New York state began producing stoneware with elaborate figural designs such as deer, dogs, birds, houses, people, historical scenes and other fanciful motifs including elephants and "bathing beauties." Vibrant blue decorations, achieved by the use of a cobalt oxide slip, are considered a trademark of this ware.

Production of salted stoneware diminished following the introduction of other materials, in particular John Landis Mason's glass jar (see Mason jar). By the turn of the twentieth century, some companies mass-produced stoneware with a white, non-salt glaze (commonly referred to as "bristol slip"), but these later wares lacked the elaborate decorations common to the earlier, salt-glazed stoneware.

American stoneware manufacturers of note include:

• Manhattan (New York City) -- John Remmey, Clarkson Crolius.
• Bennington, Vermont -- Julius Norton.
• Utica, New York -- Whites & Co.
• South Amboy, New Jersey -- Captain James Morgan, Warne & Letts.
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania -- Cowden & Wilcox.
• Waynesboro, Pennsylvania -- John Bell.
• Greensboro, Pennyslvania -- Hamilton & Jones.
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Richard C. Remmey.
• Baltimore, Maryland -- Henry Remmey, David Parr, Maulden Perine.
• Alexandria, Virginia -- B.C. Milburn.
• Richmond, Virginia -- John P. Schermerhorn, David Parr, Jr.
• Strasburg, Virginia -- Samuel Bell, Solomon Bell, J. Eberly & Co.

Salt ware in North and South Carolina

Potters in both North and South Carolina are well known for ongoing salt fired production. These independent craftsmen, generally operating small family oriented businesses in rural areas, produce ware in both traditional and personalized forms. Traditionally, each business in this area has been known for their distinctive output and decorative motifs.

Modern Art and Craft salt ware

Industrial salt firing continues. The technique was promoted in the 20th century art and craft sector by English potter and artist Bernard Leach. It was introduced into Japanese craft pottery through Leach's association with Japanese potter, Shoji Hamada, in the 1950's. American studio potter Don Reitz introduced salt glazing into the curriculum at Alfred University, New York in 1959, and this movement has spread to other American universities with strong ceramic programs. Modern [Studio pottery|studio potters]] using traditional salt processes are working in many areas of the world.

References

• Hamer, Frank and Janet. The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques. A & C Black Publishers, Limited, London, England, Third Edition 1991. ISBN 0-8122-3112-0.
• Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook. 1966, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-03-086000-8
• Rogers, Phil. Salt Glazing. A&C Black Ltd. 1992 ISBN 0-7136-4821-X

External links

• The Adam Weitsman Collection of American Stoneware in the New York State Museum.
• Alexandria, Virginia, Archaeology Museum -- Stoneware excavated from this prolific potting community.
• Bennington Museum -- Bennington pottery collection.
• Paul Cushman: Albany Stoneware Maker
• Museum of North Carolina Traditional Pottery
• Museum of the Shenandoah Valley http://www.shenandoahmuseum.org/galleries/shenandoah_gallery.html -- Holds numerous examples of Shenandoah Valley of Virginia stoneware.
• Ornate Manhattan Stoneware Teapot -- From the New York Historical Society