Description
Blue Black Salt Glaze Jug
Collect from gallery £220
Including UK delivery £245
H 33 x ∅ at base 11 cm
Salt-Glaze is an unusual ceramic process whereby the outside of a clay pot is melted into a glaze by salt at very high temperatures.
This is achieved by throwing common salt (NaCl) on to the flames at top temperature (1320°C) where it vaporises and reactive Sodium (Na) is released to dissolve the highly siliceous (SiO2) stoneware clay into a soda glass (glaze) on the pots.
Toff was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1949, and educated at Campbell College in Northern Ireland. His first experience of pottery was in 1968 working for Christa Reichel, a German sculptress, in the south west of Ireland. He then worked in various pottery workshops, culminating in a year as manager of a production workshop for a Camphill Village Trust. He joined the Harrow Studio Pottery Course run by Mick Casson and Vic Margrie in 1970 where he was introduced to kiln building by Wally Keeler and high fired salt-glaze by Gwyn Hanssen.
A brief period in France working with Gwyn inspired him to build his first salt-glaze kiln in 1971 while still at Art School. He subsequently spent time working in Africa, France and the U.S.A. Salt-glaze has always been his particular specialism and even while working in Lesotho, Southern Africa, for 3½ years, he still managed to produce Salt-glaze pots.
On his return from working in East Africa in 1985 he established his own studio workshop and gallery in the Cotswold village of Conderton at the foot of Bredon Hill. He has developed his own pottery style and an increasing diversity of Salt-glaze techniques which include dipping, pouring and trailing liquid clay slips, with scraffito and roulette decoration on to a very fine Ball clay based body.
Toff is an active member of The Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen and is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association.
Toff has been a maker since childhood and has always tried to invent useful things, and creates pots that are not only beautifully elegant, but are also highly functional and useful. His own enjoyment of food makes him want his pots to inspire people to make good food, present it on or in interesting pots and to eat it in convivial company.
In his own words,
‘Lets live life with style and enthusiasm! I am a born enthusiast and want to encourage everyone. As a country potter I like to create pots that have an old fashioned country feel to them yet still retain their elegant lines.’
