I can never make these bottles without thinking of Ray Finch. Like Cardew before him, these were one of Ray’s signature pieces. When I was training at Winchcombe I took a series of black and white photos of Ray making one almost 4 feet tall! I’ll have to digitize them one day. Toff and Georgie own one of his that is salt glazed. It is on my ‘top 10 pots’ list. I covet it.
I’m making more these days, although the market isn’t the same. Sadly, I don’t know many bootleggers.
I spent part of today adding sprigging to this and a few others. It is a slow, quiet way to work. Rolling out skinny little coils and making lots of little pea-sized balls of clay. Pressing them into little stamps I’ve carved and sticking them on the pot. Doug does this exceedingly well.
