Ben III’s Cobalt glaze settles beautifully within the combed lines of this one-of-a-kind woodfired pear vase. The blue contrast is eye-catching against the rich golden-orange, tan and brown colors that develop naturally from the wood kiln firing process. The wood ash from the firing floats into the kiln atmosphere and forms its own glaze upon landing on the intensely hot vase. This ash glaze naturally drips along the surface of the vessel in conjunction with the cobalt glaze to truly make a unique piece of art. The joy of wood firing is encompassed by this Combed Pear Vase in Multi-Layered Glazes! Measuring 3.5”w x 4.75”h.
Please Note: What appear to be white spots on the surface are reflections from photo lighting.
MultiLayer Glazes
While Ben III was in college in the 1990s, he was introduced to a spraying technique with an air-driven spray gun that some potters use to build up layers of glazes on the clay surface. With some experimenting, he was able to create a variety of finishes using accents of three or four different colors and using an ash glaze as a top coat to blend or bleach the underlying colors. Some finishes are a base of iron yellow with cobalt blue or copper green covered with orange to silver developing from the overlapping colors. Each pot is unique. As a similar process to Natural Ash Glazes, Ben III frequently places these finishes in the wood kiln to accentuate the colors as well.
This piece is hand-signed by Ben Owen III with the year made (2025).