One (1) 23 1/2 " Black Smokey Straight Bottle
One (1) 17 " Smokey "Rose" Bottle
One (1) 16" Textured Straight Bottle
The bottles shown in the photo are the ACTUAL bottles which will be sent. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing any of these bottles individually and I can quote you the price.
Do you like this item but you would like a smaller less expensive version? Visit this section of my store http://www.etsy.com/shop/blueroompottery?section_id=6582722
I throw these bottles on the wheel up to 26" or 65cm high, (as tall as my present kilns can fit to fire) and give workshops and demonstrations on bottle making. Many people have a difficult time believing that I don't use an extruder or a mold to make them until they watch me on the wheel. A very difficult form to throw!
MEET ME "in person" and watch me work here www.youtu.be/s2T1pdAq4uU
and
visit my website to read about me and my family www.galleryokto.com
These beautiful wheel thrown bottle forms feature my unique metallic finish, or otherwise lustres, that gives them their unique reflective surfaces.
The iridescence is achieved by adding 6% Silver Nitrate or 22k Goldin powder form into the glaze and the piece is fired multiple times including a reduction firing (absence of oxygen during firing). The dragonfly wing effect is done by hand-painting.
The whole set of three bottles is for sale here. It is discounted by 10% as a set of 3. You can use them with dried flowers, they are decorative and do not hold water.
Many other colors are available as you see in the detail photos to the side. They can be ordered even if not currently in stock and will ship in two weeks. Contact me if you are interested.
I have been selling these gorgeous elegant bottles through many of the top galleries in the country, some of them include:
The Art Institute of Chicago,
Museum of Art and Design (Former American Craft Museum), New York, NY
SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Boston Museum of Art
Milwaukee Art Museum
Topeo Art Gallery, New Hope PA
American Artisan, Nashville TN
Cross MacKenzie Ceramic Arts, Washington, DC
M.C. Ginsberg, Iowa City IA
Bellagio, Asheville NC
Avant Garde Art Gallery, Washington DC.........and many more, too many to mention here!
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P.S. A LITTLE PIECE OF INFO
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About lustres.
Lustre is the metallic decoration on the surface of ceramic forms or tiles. Golds, silvers and reflective reds have seized the imagination of makers and appreciators of ceramics for over 1,200 years. Such work has been highly prized over centuries in many lands and cultures.
Lustre on ceramics is almost akin to alchemy. In the right conditions, copper becomes vibrant, lustrous red. Silver may be silvery or may become golden. The transformation of dull metal compounds to gleaming, reflective metal is achieved in complex firing conditions in the kiln that are hard to control.
So lustre is also unpredictable and therefore rarely practiced today. The fire may thwart the potter's ambitions or reverse his worst expectations. A crucial skill in producing lustre lies in the packing and firing of the kiln in the last of three firings. At this point, when most potters have produced their final product, the lustre potter is just starting on the most hazardous stage.
Lustre usually requires three firings: the first ("biscuit") to harden the clay and the second to fire the glaze, usually blank at this stage. The work is then decorated using clay pigments containing metal compounds, usually of silver and copper. The third firing is to a low temperature - red heat - when the kiln is starved of oxygen and the pigments are chemically "reduced" to base metals.
Many sensitive variables of temperature, atmosphere and air movement govern the final result. Potter and kiln both contribute to the outcome in partnership. Spectacular iridescent and smoke effects may magically appear if one is lucky. The failure rate is high and prize results are always accompanied by disappointments!
Marietta's work is usually hand-thrown, brush-decorated and fired at least three times. The reduction firing is achieved using sugar as an agent. Her work is intended to be decorative but may have occasional functional use, like her beautiful bowls.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: The design of this handmade art piece and all associated images and descriptive text are © copyright 1985-2013 by Marietta LeMieux (Marietta Theodorou-LeMieux) either registered or unregistered, unless otherwise noted. Violation of this copyright may subject the violator to civil and/or criminal prosecution. Copyright DOES NOT transfer with purchase and no license to reproduce is created or should be inferred.
Have any questions?
Contact the shop owner.
