Description
I made Purple Glory Baker on the potter’s wheel with an iron bearing stoneware clay that fires out toasty brown. First I throw the bowl portion of the baker/casserole, creating a galley where the lid will seat. Next I measure the diameter of the bowl with calipers and throw the lid to fit that diameter.
When the two parts of the baking dish are not quite leather hard, I trim each part and then make two small handles for the bowl and one chunky handle for the lid from twisted clay. For the final touch, I craved a sun motif in the top of the lid. And then I allow the piece to dry fully so it can be bisque fired. Now that the piece is bisqued and has become ceramic, I wax the galley and the rim of the lid which will resist glaze from sticking. I want to fire the lid and the bowl together and I don’t want glaze to fuse them together.
For this piece, I started the decoration by dipping into a floating blue glaze that I make, on a diagonal. Next I dipped the lower half in a purple matte glaze. And I leave a swatch of bare clay between the two colors so I can overlap the two with the red gold glaze. Same for the lid. A few daubs of the red gold with my sash brush to give added interest. This is a glaze technique I’ve been calling “Tempest” when it’s on a teapot, but for this baker we’ll go with Purple Glory. What’s in a name?
Finally I load Purple Glory Baker in the kiln and I fire to 2200 degrees.
Yes, you can bake in it! Use it to serve as well. It will help to keep food warm longer.
It has a trimmed foot. Bowl is 8″ Diameter x 4.5″ High
1.5-quart capacity
(Note: When reheating leftovers from the fridge, allow the casserole to come to room temperature before placing in a pre-heated oven. Or, place the cold casserole in a cold oven and warm the two up together.
