Making the Maria Stuarda Teapot

While working in the studio, I was listening to a classical radio station and an opera began to be broadcast.  The opera was Maria Stuarda   This two act opera was written by Geatano Donizetti and is based on Friedrich Schiller’s 1800 play Maria Stuarda involving the doomed life of Mary, Queen of Scotland. Now to me, opera means songs that are sung in Italian or German that I cannot understand nor follow.  So I wasn't listening intently, but I was enjoying the music and voices. 

While listening to the opera I began to create a teapot and thought I might record the steps that I take to make one. I was working on numerous teapots, so I distinguished this one as the Maria Stuarda Teapot. As you read, you may find a new perspective how hand-made teapots are formed before it finds itself at a gallery, store or on-line shop.

Forming the body

It is always good to conceptualize the finished piece before one even sits down to begin to work with clay. The first step is to create the teapot body. Once the clay ball is centered onto the potter's wheel, the clay is pulled into a “fat” cylinder to the approximate desired height of the final piece. 

Faceting the walls

After the cylinder has been formed, the body can begin to be shaped.  With the Maria Stuarda Teapot, I envisioned faceting the walls of the body to accept a specific glaze treatment.  Because of this, the cylinder is created with thicker walls to allow clay to be removed.  The sides are faceted using a cheese cutter.  The cheese cutter was purchased at a dollar store and modified years ago with a very thin wire. When the cutter is passed through the body, the excess clay is pulled from the body form creating panels. 

The rim and lid galley are formed next. Now the final shape from cylinder to roundish body can be addressed.   Using a throwing stick like the one pictured here, the clay is stretched outward from inside the body until the desired shape is attained. Since the outside surface has been faceted when the clay is wet, the only way to form the finished piece is from the inside.

The picture below shows the wet teapot still on the wheel head of the potter’s wheel.  The green object underneath the body is a removal plastic bat that allows the body to be moved from the wheel without distorting the body. 

Forming the spout and lid

 While the clay is setting up, the spout and lid are formed.  I form a number of spouts at one time when I am producing teapots.  These small bottle forms will be cut, shaped and bent to form the spout.  The goal of the lid is to have it sit as well as it can in the rim galley.  Measuring both the galley diameter and the lid diameter is critical to get the fit correct. 

Footing the bottom

 Footing: verb (used with an object) To make or attach a foot to: to foot a teapot

Once the clay body stiffens enough to lift it off the green wheel bat, it is cut from the bat using a thin wire.  The body, spout and lid, are set aside and allowed to dry until the body can be handled without causing distortion.  At this stage the clay is “leather hard” and the foot can be created.

There are many ways to create a foot.  The most common is by flipping the clay body on its rim, re-centering it on the wheel head and trimming excess clay from the bottom of the form.  One must remember when forming the clay body to leave enough clay at the bottom of the piece so a foot can be created. In the picture below a cylinder form has been turned  upside down on its rim, re-centered and held into place with small wads of clay. A carving tool is used to remove the clay until the desired height of the foot is achieved.  You can just imaging the disgust one feels if one removes too much clay and breaks through the bottom of the clay body.  Ouch!

Assembling the teapot

 Once the foot has been formed and the clay is allowed to harden a bit more, the form is ready to be assembled so that a teapot emerges.  I position the spout where I want it, and then I make small holes in the body.  These holes will act as a tea leaf strainer if one uses loose teas while steeping tea.  I attach and form the spout over the strainer holes. 

I form my handles with  custom dies that I have created for my clay extruder.  This device is like the child’s playdough extruder, only much larger.  Once the handles are formed (and hardened a bit) they are ready to attach to the teapot body.

My “fly-away” thumb rests on the handle

 Handles have always been a challenge for me.  A few years ago while experimenting with adding a thumb rest on the top of a handle, I attached excess clay from my handle to the top of the handle and positioned it upward instead of down. The result was a more ergonomic handle.  I found in this position the thumb works in concert with the fingers allowing a full teapot to be held without straining the hand. 

 Glazing

 When I conceived this teapot body I knew I was going to glaze the piece with Tenmoku glaze.  Where applied thick this glaze will be black, but it "breaks" at details becoming thinner and exhibiting a rust color, thus accentuating any details, like the lines between the faceted panels.  Below is a photo of the teapot with the dried Tenmoku glaze waiting to be fired.

 At a recent trip I visited the San Antonio Art Museum. They have a wonderful collection of asian ceramic art which they display and describe better than other museums I have visited.  I took this picture of the description of Jian Ware from the Song Dynasty. They  describe Tenmoku much better than I can.

 Firing

 After the teapot has been glazed it is fired in a kiln for 12-hours or more to Cone 10 (2345 degrees F) to achieve vitrification and the allow the glaze to melt and form the glassy finish.

From the time the clay ball is wedged to begin making a teapot to pulling it from the kiln it takes  upwards to 30-days to create a teapot balancing my life's schedule between making, assembling, drying, glazing, and firing. The next time you pick up a mug, teapot, vase or other hand-made clay item, consider the time and process it took the artist to make the piece.