Handmade by Benjamin Owen IV. The scalloped design on the base was inspired by Asian pottery allowing room for a glaze to move at the base.
Fully functional for everyday use, this bowl in Mirror Black will become a valued gift by its recipient. Measuring 1.75”h x 7.75”dia.
Please Note: What appears to be white spots on the surface are reflections from photo lighting.
Benjamin Owen IV (b. 2005), the youngest child of sixth-generation potter Ben Owen III, is a Junior at Uwharrie Charter Academy High School in Asheboro, NC. His current passions include cross country, governmental science and policymaking, and investment. While keeping task with his school assignments, Benjamin enjoys turning clay on the wheel in his father’s studio. As a long-standing tradition in the Owen Family, creating with clay is a way for Benjamin to carry on his family’s legacy and connect with his roots. Benjamin’s work is featured in galleries such as the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC as well as the Golf Shop of the renowned Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC.
This piece is hand-signed by Benjamin Owen IV with the year made (2024).
The Mirror Black Glaze was first formulated by Ben Owen Sr. while working with Jacques and Juliana Busbee at Jugtown Pottery, and, continued to be used at Ben Owen Pottery by all three Bens. The glaze includes a mixture of iron, manganese, and, cobalt as pigments. Depending on the firing process, this glaze can reveal many variations from solid black to black with rust to khaki tones.
This glaze is fired in a reduction atmosphere through either a gas-fired or wood-fired process. In a gas-fired reduction kiln, the color will remain solid black or break to rust tones on the rim and/or edges of carvings. In a wood-fired reduction kiln, the glaze color will develop into our Teadust or Frogskin. These two glazes develop as a result of the natural bleaching properties in the minerals of the wood ash or the overlapping effect of the ash on top of the applied black glaze.