Clay in the hands of a potter can be an art form or it can produce soup bowls used for fund raisers.

By Margaret Lindsay Holton

BURLINGTON, ON  November 12, 2012  There is something very grounding about crafting clay into ceramics.  Shaped by human hands for over 14,000 years, clay is one of the oldest naturally-occurring building materials we have to create, like stone or wood. When mixed with water, clay develops a plasticity that hardens in shape when dry. When fired in a kiln, permanent physical and chemical changes occur to create a ‘ceramic’. Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, create different types of ceramics such as stoneware, earthenware, or porcelain.

Attendance during the first hour of a pottery show in Dundas, Ontario – the bi-annual Potters Guild of Hamilton and Region.  MLH photo.

As humans, we have long distinguished ourselves by preferring to eat our food from a decorative dish, plate, bowl, mug or tea cup. It defines us culturally and, more often then not, socially.  As most know, not all soup bowls are created equal …

Film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ famed Oliver Twist clay crock contrasted with high-end 19th century Sevres and Meissen porcelain from Europe. Photos by MLH

During the 1800s, much of the world’s finest porcelain tableware came from Germany, France and England. Companies such as Meissen and Rosenthal in Germany, and Havilland and Sevres in France, became world famous for beautiful ornate designs, while the Staffordshire region of England produced such legendary companies as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Spode and Minton. The great porcelain manufacturers of the era marked their products with the company’s name, initials or trademark symbols. Today, individual potters from the Potter’s Guild of Hamilton and Region continue this time-honored tradition. Look for their marks or signatures on the bottom of their wares.
 

Signature or mark of maker on the bottom of clay bowls. Photo credit MLH

North American pottery, first developed by the indigenous coastal people, occurred around 3000 BC. Pots, or vessels, were made using the ‘coil’ method. Strands of clay were coiled one on top of each other then smoothed over to create a seamless bowl shape. Designs were imprinted into the clay using sticks, shells or twisted cording. To date, no evidence has been found of a ‘thrown’ bowl in pre-contact native North American cultures. It seems they never used – or developed – a potter’s wheel.
 

Potter’s wheel  –  Photo courtesy Potter’s Guild of Hamilton. 

The mostly highly priced base clay for all ceramics is ‘kaolin’. A large deposit exists in the Moose River basin in Northeastern Ontario, but we, as a people, have never mined it. Instead, we, in Ontario, import most of our clay, for decorative and utilitarian purposes, from the States, or Alberta. Interestingly, a unique shale-derived clay well-suited for ceramic production was once found in abundance in both Hamilton and Burlington, but it has long since been depleted, lost to rapid urbanization.  Somewhat ironically, potters and ceramicists in the region are now forced to use imported clay mixtures to make ‘local’ pots.

 

Burlingtonian potters Barbara Taylor & Kia Eichenbaum show their wares in Dundas.  Photos by MLH

Over the past weekend, the Potter’s Guild of Hamilton & Region held their unequivocally fantastic bi-annual three day Sale featuring over 100 local potters, (including Burlingtonians Barbara Taylor and  Kia Eichenbaum and recently transplanted Dale Marks , at the Lions Memorial Community Centre on Market Street in Dundas, Ontario.  An extra-ordinary diversity of shapes, covered in a variety of slips, mottled glazes and highlighted with colourful and pleasing configurations satisfied the aesthetic palettes of all enthusiasts. I have gone to this event for over four years now, and every year I am super impressed by the abundance of product. I highly recommend this sale as a ‘regional sojourn’. Mark your calendars for next years Spring Sale.

A little closer to home, it is well known that the Burlington Art Centre boasts “the largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics in the world”. Their collection contains more then 1800 artworks, with over 400 Canadian artists represented. Unlike the utilitarian (and beautifully crafted) eating earthen and stoneware featured at the Dundas show, the BAC collection explores the more abstract artistic possibilities of clay. Illustrative examples from their decades-old Fire & Ice Exhibition can still be seen on the Virtual Museum of Canada website: 

The Burlington Art Centre holds its annual Soup Bowl Event, in the Rotary Shoreline Room at 1333 Lakeshore Blvd, Burlington, from November 15th to November 18th.  Reserve your seat early for this very popular event. (BAC members pay $35, non-members pay $45). Enjoy a hearty soup and salad, and then take home your locally-crafted soup bowl – made from a mixture of clays from elsewhere.

Margaret Lindsay Holton is both an environmentalist and a community activist.  She is an artist of some renown and the designer of a typeface.  She is also a photographer and the holder of opinions, which are her own, that she will share with you in an instant.   She appears as an Our Burlington columnist every two weeks. All photographs are by MLH unless otherwise indicated.

 

 

 

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