Several of us raised glasses and mugs Saturday night to Paul Jessop, slipware potter from Barrington, in Somerset, England. We toasted the man because I was drinking Mexican beer from his fine English tankard, big enough to hold two full bottles of beer. That's the elegant, honey amber-glazed pot at top, with its depiction of Barrow Hill, a Somerset high point. (I think I have that right; Paul will correct me if not.)
Paul's pot came to us via Denise Marcoux, a Falmouth friend who was in Somerset two weeks ago with her husband, Chris Bromfield. Chris grew up in the area and worked there as a thatcher. They were there to celebrate his 40th birthday. They dropped in on Paul and passed on a mug from Cape Cod, so Paul offered them tea and sent them off with a couple of his own pots. Very generous, these potters. So, thank you, Paul. It's my new favorite beer and limewater mug.
Right now, the mug is sitting on a disused electric kiln while I glaze in preparation of Friday's glaze firing and Saturday's kiln-opening. Big doings here this week.
14 comments:
So funny, I just wrote about not liking to drink beer from your cup and there you go drinking beer from another ceramic cup. How is that one for beer?!
That one's better than mine, I suspect. First, it's English, so they know their beer and this particular tankard seems to take well to beer. Second ... I don't know what's second. Maybe that I'd just gotten the pot and I was drinking beer, so the combination came naturally. Also, it's a lot bigger than your cup. Does any of that make sense, Tracey?
Hollis - Interesting you should bring up beer... I wanted to get one of your cups for purposes of beer consumption, so I am using the one with the indentation for the thumb that I picked out the other day. It almost holds a full bottle, which is nice. Probably not ideal - I like the idea of a big tankard like you have pictured - but any HP vessel is fine by me.
Something I noticed, and maybe you can explain, was that the beer seemed to produce a thicker, stronger or stiffer head than I would normally see in a glass. Am I just imagining this or does the material make a difference? The beer in question is various brews from Long Trail, if that matters. Either way, it's tasty.
Two of your mugs are bound for Woodgate, NY along with some coffee beans from Dean's Beans.
Nice! I've been working on an 03 amber glaze on slipware.
Hi, Barry. I don't know why the cup would change the consistency of the head, unless that particular cup has sides that come in as they get to the rim. If that's the case, the head might be pushed together and be slightly more concentrated. That kinda makes sense ... maybe. And I'm happy to hear the pots are going to Woodgate. Where in NY is that?
Hi, Lee. Paul might share his recipe with you if you ask. This particular glaze is quite lovely.
Hollis - about 45 minutes north of Utica on the way to Old Forge. It's just outside the Adirondack Park.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about -- two beer capacity is a tankard. Love it. I must get one. All the mugs I have require getting up and going to the kitchen at a too-high frequency.
I can make you a three-bottle tankard ...
And I will gladly take it.
OK, I'll add it to my projects for early next year.
I wonder how much egg nog it would hold...
Hi Hollis, I'm glad you like it and it's good to see it made it to you safe and well.
I will gladly put the glaze recipe on here but I don't have it to hand at the moment.
Safe and sound, Paul. I use it daily. Many,many thanks.
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