Ceramics courses Autumn 2017

My 8-week ceramic courses at Central YMCA, 112 Great Russell Street (Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30 - 9pm) start Wednesday 11th October. Book by phone on 020 7343 1700.

Fine silver vessel

This small vessel was raised from a 150mm disc of 0.6mm thick fine silver sheet. I arranged for alternate bands to be hammer faceted, and filed and polished. It only awaits hallmarking then shipping! The total weight is only 104gm, but the rim thickness is now 0.92mm.

While raising the pot I managed to split it near the base, so I sawed the conical base off and discarded the small cone. I then soldered a flat disc of 0.7mm fine silver to the open base of the pot, and was well pleased with the results. I chose 0.7mm thickness for the new base because I found that I had increased the wall thickness there by the action of raising.



And this is it after hallmarking.

Miniature bronze Art-Deco pot

I have made a range of six bronze, silicon bronze and gilding metal pots which are in various stages of progress. Illustrated is a classical bronze alloy (i.e. tin bronze) pot or urn which I imagine as a kind of miniature Jean Dunand (Art-Deco) pot. When I say miniature, the pot / urn was raised from a disc of bronze 148mm in diameter and 0.9mm thick. The rim thickness would comfortably be at least 1.5mm now, since the periphery of the disc by the nature of raising is 'closed in', compressing the metal, which thereby makes for a greater thickness.

Society of Designer Craftsmen show

I displayed the three hallmarked sterling silver pots, and four bronze pots, at the SDC Xmas Show at Rivington Street in London at the end of November / beginning of December. Sales generally were good, totalling about £5000 for the group of us displaying. The left-hand picture shows a corner of the ground floor part of the gallery behind the main service desk, the right-hand picture my pots arranged on one of the shelves.




And the flyer for the exhibition, designed by the very talented Siân Renfrey;

Bronze Beaker #1

This is probably the most beautiful single container I have made, but unfortunately I just couldn't get the camera to show this. It started off as a plain straight-sided beaker, about 18swg; I got bored with it and left it for some years, then decided to chamfer, planish then polish above the base with a hammer, and planish and polish a band round the top. The centre section was left with the raising hammer marks. I now like it so much I am in process of making two more; one in gilding metal, and another in silicon bronze.