Behind the Scenes

We pour love and care into all that we make, to create unique, usable tableware to enhance the joy of serving and sharing food.

BASIC FORMING

Clay comes from the ground and we mix different sorts of clays to create our own, high quality earthenware. We dig, blunge, sieve, filter and pug the clay to form extruded logs of wet clay, which are then cut into the exact size and weight for each item. The thrower takes this lump and centers and forms it on an electric potter’s wheel.

Preparing Clay

Throwing the lump

The jug emerges

WET CLAY OR GREENWARE

The little jug body is dried to a "leather hard" stage, and then a handle is attached to it with a glue-like substance called slip. Small imperfections are fettled and cleared away to make the pot ready for the next stage.

The glue-like slip

Fettling and cleaning

Putting on the handle

Tidying up again

SLIP DIPPING

When it reaches a very particular level of hardness, the little jug can be lowered into the liquid slip bucket. This type of slip is made from our same clay but with more water and less iron, to make it whiter. The slip is viscous and makes another pot cleaning necessary.

Carefully lowered into slip

Shaking off excess

Cleaning again and evening off

BISQUE KILN FIRING

Once again the jug needs to harden even more, so it can withstand being stamped with our Nicholas Mosse logo. It then waits for its turn in the kiln and receives a first firing or ‘bisque’ firing, which removes all water from the clay and makes it hard and ready to decorate.

Now dried, each piece is signed

Loading the kiln

Firing Kiln Lit

Getting colours ready to decorate

DECORATING

Nicholas Mosse Pottery has a large group of shapes, from mugs to plates to bowls, which are all hand decorated in one of our 10 or so patterns. Each motif is applied by hand, one at a time, in different underglaze colours. The pots are then dipped into clear glaze and fired again.