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A friend of mine and I were having a discussion about my horsehair raku pottery and how much he liked my work. He told me he had his folks' ashes in cardboard boxes on a shelf in his garage and was wondering if I'd be interested in making a couple of horsehair Raku urns for him...incorporating some of the ashes in or on the finished piece. I can't see where or how I'd be able to put the ashes ON the finished piece but thought that it might be possible to incorporate the ashes into the clay body itself, either wedging the ash into the clay or possibly pressing the ashes into the surface of the wet jars before drying and firing the pieces. On another tack, he was wondering if it would be possible to mix some of the ashes into a glaze and firing the pieces that way. Since ash glazes tend to run when fired, he suggested glazing the bottom of the pots and firing them upside down so the drips would run UP the pot when sitting right side up. (This suggestion is something I plan to experiment with in my regular pottery work...) I don't have enough experience with clay and glaze chemistry to even have an idea of how to go about this and would appreciate any suggestions that might help with this project. In the research that I've started I found that the basic composition of human ash is as follows with the percentages of the primary components. Anything below .01% is not included: Phosphate 47.5% Calcium 25.3% Sulfate (Sulphate) 11.00% Potassium 3.69% Sodium 1.12% Chloride 1.00% Silica 0.9% Aluminum Oxide 0.72% Magnesium 0.418% Thanks, JohnnyK