How We Do It - Slip Casting

Certain of the shapes we use are better cast rather than moulded and for this method of production we prepare the clay differently. We still use plaster moulds, but these are filled with slip which is liquid clay rather than clay moulded from a pre prepared paste.

Once the moulds are filled with slip, the excess liquid is drawn out by the plaster and the clay is left to set. As soon as the correct thickness is achieved the excess slip is poured from the mould and the hollow clay shell is revealed. The leather pieces are removed from the moulds finished, air dried ready for firing. They are fired to 1,000°C in a gas kiln (more than four times as hot as the maximum temperature of a domestic oven).

After this first firing each piece is hard and much more robust than the leather. Now known as biscuit, most of the moisture having been removed, the biscuitware is ready for glazing and decorating