What Small Batch Pottery Means in Practice in My Studio
In my Sheffield studio, small batch pottery means time, intention, and refinement. Here’s why I hand‑build my stoneware mugs and the five techniques I use to create durable, functional, beautiful pieces.
Large Nettle Mug, Hand Built
What Small Batch Pottery Means in My Studio
When I think of ‘small batch’, regarding craft, it suggests the idea that quality is the focus rather than quantity. That is not to say that quality items cannot be made in large quantities but that as a maker by hand, it is sometimes an interesting question as to the time it takes to make something of quality.
I speak from my experience of making hand-built ceramic mugs and wanted to explore this idea as I consider the balance of providing quality craftmanship, functional and useful items and a livelihood as an artist.
Little Arch Mugs in Progress
When I first approached clay in high school, I was drawn to the tactility of coiling a pot. The ability to concentrate for long periods of time that often eluded me, was strangely abundant when it came to making with my hands. I could sit for hours coiling, etching or learning many of the crafts I was lucky enough to have access to at my school.
This slow, calm space seems particularly prevalent in clay, and both hand building and throwing on the wheel can bring a real sense of grounding. I think this flow can be found in many ways and different disciplines, but for me it is the act of making something with my hands using natural materials.
What I enjoy about hand building mugs using stoneware clay is combing that ‘handmade’ feeling with precision and an aesthetically pleasing finish. When you role a clay slab you can imbed textures like my in arch series, or my nettle and fern mugs, use stamps or even shape unusual forms. With thrown mugs there is also a beautiful sense of craftmanship. I am happily working towards improving my skills, and there are many exciting ways you can use texture but for now I will focus on some of the small ‘improvements’ I do with my slab mugs.
Five Ways I Refine My Slab‑Built Mugs
Texture- each embedded element is one of a kind. The clay preserves each leaf, each unique line, ridge and shape. With the arch detail I press each one in individually. To me, this gives it a feeling that would be missing if I simply rolled the same texture on each time to make them perfectly uniform.
Size and weight- the first mugs I made were heavy! But I wanted a decent sized mug. I began to role the slabs thinner. This made the construction a little harder as clay that is moved about a lot likes to move back and warp! Being extra careful when moving and compressing the slabs and using and old cardboard role to form the clay around helps but some still warp!
Inner coil- this is a big one for me. With a thrown mug there is a lovely transition from the inner base to the wall. With my early slab mugs that line of connection would quickly collect tanning stains after prolonged use with caffeinated drinks. By rolling a soft ‘snake’ and smoothing this out I don’t have this problem anymore.
Terracotta plant pots- This was also a game changer for me. When it came to construction the mug even after lots of careful handling, the mugs profile would often be a bit off centre. Gently using the round tapered bottom of the plant pot to help my mug find that shape again the terracotta form won’t stick to the clay and is hard enough to coax the bottom and the rim of the cylinder back to a nice round shape during construction of the mug.
Compressing the walls outward- when you are throwing a cylinder on the wheel the centrifugal force pushes the clay outwards away from the centre. To manage this, you collar inwards to work with it. In slab building it is the opposite issue with the walls wanting to sag inwards. By using a soft rib tool to softly press the wall outward from the inside, it creates a fuller, more voluminous silhouette as well as strengthening the form.
The Value of Time in Small Batch Craft
The last general point is simply time, by being consistent with measurements, refining and smoothing and taking the time with each mug, I can make about six mugs from start to finish in a full day’s work.
So, each mug takes time but with that time I believe that you put something special into a piece. Time is precious and holding something that was made with care captures a sense of this. This is true from the Maker of the piece to the Recipient, and the Journey that mug or handmade item will go on and the stories it will collect over time.
Small batch, in whatever creative endeavour you chose, to me equals the conscious time and energy you put into something with the intention to create beauty and function.
As William Morris stated, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. While maybe we can’t always afford to have Everything as such, to combine this meaningfully in an age of consumerism and mass production seems to me at least, very relevant.