Serving bowls have been a part of the home setting for thousands of years. Offering guests, family or friends a treat or special food dish has been a long-standing tradition across many cultures that continues today. An arrangement of fresh flowers inside this bowl also provides a welcomed visual offering to visitors in the warmer seasons. This Thumbprint Bowl in Frogskin reveals many of the great qualities of this glaze surface while creating physical intrigue through the indentions of the artist’s thumbprint. This handmade bowl will become a cherished gift. Fully functional for any food or flower arrangement. Measuring 6.25”dia x 4.25”h.
Please Note: What appear to be white spots on the surface are reflections from photo lighting.
Frogskin is the same glaze as a Teadust glaze but fired in the back of a salt glaze groundhog kiln where salt is added to the firing at the very end. The sodium in the salt reacts similarly to the way bleach works on clothing by bleaching the iron-rich glaze creating an olive green to mustard-colored finish with a glossy surface. Historically, Ben III’s family and many other potters in the Seagrove area became aware of natural clay from Albany, NY (known as Albany Slip) that could be used as a glaze by itself to produce this type of finish with the addition of salt thrown in the kiln at the end of the firing.
This piece is hand-signed by Ben Owen III with the year made (2005).