Janet Kaiser on wed 17 oct 01
Hi Stacy - Glad to see you in the parade... :-)
You will have many answers to your question, but
footrings are really as much a matter of personal
choice and design as anything, although tradition and
function play their part. Basically it depends on the
design of the pot. Does it need lifting off the surface
it stands on or not? Is it part of the perceived
tradition for that shape? Bowls usually have foot rings
(also known as "foot rims") not just for aesthetic
reasons, but to help save cracking, slumping or
warping - hence a ring on a bowl is a "tradition".
Then there are purely aesthetic reasons for having a
foot: for example, a Japanese tea bowl which DEMANDS a
foot and will not forgive you if you do not give it
one! A tall foot could be part of the design you had in
mind from the start. But the height, width and splay
will depend as much on function as on design.
Your skill levels are also a factor, when choosing to
have or have not. Those early efforts usually end up
with some sort of foot after turning huge quantities of
clay off their bottoms!
The swirled wire cuts you refer to are an indication of
the highly skilled and accomplished thrower... A little
flourish which indicates to the observant, that they
did not need to turn later, because it was perfect
straight off. They are usually only seen on jugs, mugs,
vases and other small items which can be trimmed as the
final action of throwing. This saves a lot of time and
nuisance, so the proficient potter will normally prefer
wiring for that reason. Yes, production potters
obviously will too... "Time is money"!
Foot rings also allow glazing for some part of the
base. Even mass-produced mugs have a very slight foot
ring, so that the base can be glazed (except for the
ring which comes in contact with the kiln shelf)
without using stilts.
So really, you cannot get out of turning footrings at
some point! Once you are a skilled thrower, you will
see which shapes and designs will need the lift of a
foot and which not. There is a degree of forward
planning involved after all. And once you have more
experience, you will learn which pots need a foot for
technical reasons... Very large plates and platters
will sometimes even call for two foot rings: one inside
the other to prevent warping.
As for microwave firing... It is still in the
research/development stage. It is certainly not
possible to nuke pots in the kitchen!
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
> Anyway, I have a question. Not a major question,
just a leeetle tiny one,
> because Merrie did invite all of us lurkers to
post...I went to the State
> Fair (of North Carolina) last night, got to fondle
some pots (until the
> people I was with had to drag me away) and I noticed
many of them did not
> have turned footrings, they were merely wired off at
the bottom and had the
> edges cleaned up. Is this a common practice among
production potters? I
> mean, judging by the time it takes to make a foot, I
can see where skipping
> it would save a lot of time, but is this how everyone
does it? (Can you
> tell I'm trying to find a way out of trimming
footrings?)
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