AUKURAS

Hi, I am Andrius, a potter :)
AUKURAS is a pottery studio established by me and located in the center of The Hague, Netherlands.

While I use many pottery techniques, I am mostly engaged in leaven ceramics. This ancient pottery technique comes from my homeland and was very common in medieval Lithuania. One unique future of this technique is that pots will never turn out identical to one another - each and every piece has its own unique character. Another future: no glazing. This technique was used long before glazes were introduced to Europe, and the main purpose of leaven ceramics was to reduce water penetration into pots that were used for cooking.

The most intriguing part of this type of ceramics is the process itself when red-hot - 1000°C - pot is pulled out of a kiln and immediately immersed in a specially prepared liquid. The liquid has to be prepared and leavened a few days in advance, and it can be made with various ingredients, such as flour, sugar, yeast, rye, wheat, peas, oats, beetroot, and more. It always produces unexpected and mesmerizing results. Leaven ceramics are natural and chemical-free

All my kitchen-ware and products that come in contact with food are additionally coated with multiple layers of my very own wax that are made of natural plants oil and natural beeswax. I collect beeswax from local beekeepers. Similar waxes are commonly used to treat wooden cutting boards. This process makes pottery 100% waterproof. While it is a completely food-safe ceramic, the plates I sell is intended to be used for food holding only and not as everyday dinner plates.

Feel free to contact me for any questions!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!