The Dissolution of Pottery…

Last month, I decided to commission out some handmade pottery in Lord of the Rings style. Luckily, the Internet provided me with a lady that does reproductions of some of the styles seen in the films.

For the remainder of the money that I received for Christmas, she agreed to supply me with four tumblers styled after the ones Gandalf uses in Fellowship, four Prancing Pony Inn coasters, and a small slightly out of round palantir.

I was told that she was firing them around the 5th, which meant they should be done soon. She sent me pictures of the nine tumblers that she made and allowed me to pick the four I wanted. (I selected 1, 5, 6, and 7).

She sent me an email yesterday explaining that as she was packing them, she noticed that the lip near the top was a little speckled and ran her finger over them to find that the glaze flaked off quite easily, but only there.

She explained that this was a defect known as “shivering” where the clay shrinks faster than the glaze. It is caused by the glaze not taking to the new brand of clay that she used. She has several of her friends assisting her in determining the best course to fix them, she said that if she couldn’t fix them she’d make them with old clay that she has used in the past and get them to me.

I appreciate her wanting to do a good job, and she’s had really good levels of communciation throughout the process so I’m not worried about her not producing. It stinks a little to have to wait a few more weeks, but its a small price to pay for some awesome items for my bar.