Since January 2020 Ant and Di Edmonds of Tydd Pottery have been working on a long-held desire to learn how to make a type of pottery quite different from the blue and white tin glazed earthenware they had been producing for many years.
One of their main sources of inspiration are the pots produced over many generations by the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico USA, who without the use of kiln, wheels and glazes they created pots of amazing quality and design.
At Tydd they have developed individual vessels built up from flattened coils which are subsequently pinched, scraped and beaten into shape using hands and a variety of implements. The pots are made in batches of 5 or 6, built up progressively from flattened coils which are about 4cms wide. Roughly one coil on each per day. These are worked into the body of the vessel, thinned and smoothed and prepared to receive the next coil later. This process continues upwards until the pot is complete. The clay is a 50/50 mix of porcelain and Valentine's GT material. A finely sieved slip is then prepared from this body and 5 or 6 thin layers are brushed onto the pot. This is then burnished, the pot is allowed to dry and biscuit fired to 950. The design is worked out on the pot using a soft pencil and then the pattern is produced by brush with a mixture of black stain, black clay and a transparent glaze. Finally a sealer is brushed onto both surfaces and the vessel is polished
Their aim is not to produce an object with a practical purpose but to create an object which has a significant and very positive impact on the observer offering beauty, intrigue, surprise, a wow factor and hopefully the opportunity to enjoy it's presence as much as Di and Ant enjoy it's creation.
As well as the black and white waxed vessels we will have a small selection of the blue and white majolica ware that was previously Tydd's signature style for many years.
