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A fun look at why vessels break


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‘Reasons Why Vessels Break’ from Living with Pottery: by John W. Arthur

 

Here is an interesting list of the Gamo potters of Ethiopia with reasons why their pots break. It is disaster filled fun reading.

 

 

 

Cooking

 

Dropping

 

Firing the vessel

 

Hitting a stone

 

Pouring beer into the pot

 

Use for a long time

 

Falling from storage area

 

Dog stepping on vessel

 

Broke bringing home from the market

 

Making butter

 

Picked up with one hand and it broke

 

Cooking with salt

 

Store milk and just broke

 

Drilling in two holes for a bee house

 

Sitting on vessel

 

Child threw a stone

 

Hit potters leg and broke

 

Storing beer

 

Hitting with a stick

 

Hit on another pot

 

Cleaning the interior

 

When someone was pounding the crops in the wooden grinder

 

Continuous use

 

Cow broke while drinking water

 

Broke during wedding ceremony

 

By moving pot

 

Bought broke

 

Cracked during production

 

Not to make light of anyone's disaster but how were any of your vessels broken unexpectedly. You can be as sad as you want or as funny as you want. Tell your broke pot tale.

 

 

 

 

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I am such a klutz I am always breaking stuff! My worst recent one was a tea pot that turned out amazing, I am very critical of every single piece I do and I was so proud of this one, every single piece, spout, handle, lid, shape of the pot, everything looked so perfect to me. I finished getting it together and was trying to remove the bat off the wheel and my fingers slipped off the edge and I pretty much punched right through the piece with my fingers.. what can you do but laugh!

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‘Reasons Why Vessels Break’ from Living with Pottery: by John W. Arthur

 

Here is an interesting list of the Gamo potters of Ethiopia with reasons why their pots break. It is disaster filled fun reading.

 

 

 

Cooking

 

Dropping

 

Firing the vessel

 

Hitting a stone

 

Pouring beer into the pot

 

Use for a long time

 

Falling from storage area

 

Dog stepping on vessel

 

Broke bringing home from the market

 

Making butter

 

Picked up with one hand and it broke

 

Cooking with salt

 

Store milk and just broke

 

Drilling in two holes for a bee house

 

Sitting on vessel

 

Child threw a stone

 

Hit potters leg and broke

 

Storing beer

 

Hitting with a stick

 

Hit on another pot

 

Cleaning the interior

 

When someone was pounding the crops in the wooden grinder

 

Continuous use

 

Cow broke while drinking water

 

Broke during wedding ceremony

 

By moving pot

 

Bought broke

 

Cracked during production

 

Not to make light of anyone's disaster but how were any of your vessels broken unexpectedly. You can be as sad as you want or as funny as you want. Tell your broke pot tale.

 

 

 

Ethiopians would not have this one-

Froze in wet stage,

and froze while in use outside.

 

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Here's one of my broke pot experiences-

I was in a rush. I had completed decorating 3 large greenware bowls all the same size but each decorated differently and intricately it took several hours to do. I stacked them within each other for a bisque fire. As I placed them in the kiln the weight of the two top vessels broke the one on the bottom the upper one broke the middle one and the top one fell into the bottom two. All three broken vessels sat on the shelf for a few moments before I took out the pieces and cleaned out the kiln. I looked at them and waited for my lesson and knew I could never be hasty again if, I wanted to have successful firings. That was twenty one years ago. I no longer rush for anything or anyone.

 

 

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