Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Throwing and trimming teapots is just one stage in what’s otherwise quite a troublesome and daunting process. What comes after, the glazing especially, is always a tricker process than I imagine as there’s simply so much you have to take care over.
Compared to the rest of my output, mostly mugs, bowls and jars, I make relatively few teapots, which means I never quite build the same rhythm or familiarity with forms like these. The time required per piece is extremely high given how carefully they’re finished but I think they’re slowly improving.
I’m also testing a new lid detail on this one, a small trimmed groove around the top. It serves no practical function whatsoever, but instead creates a channel for the glaze to gather and settle into during the firing.
Glazing teapots is particularly complicated because every decision affects how the vessel performs afterwards. The way glaze settles inside the spout, or around the pierced holes where the tea flows through, can subtly change how the teapot pours. Achieving consistency is extraordinarily difficult but I’m not especially concerned with making perfectly dripless teapots, nor chasing flawless laminar pours every single time, though when either happen naturally it’s always keeping rewarding. I test the pouring and discuss what influences that in the longer video.
That’s what this weekend’s film explores, preparing a teapot like this for firing, waxing it, glazing it, tidying everything afterwards and finally subjecting it to a long reduction firing. If you’d like to see the full process, including the throwing, trimming and assembly, the fully narrated video can be found via the Linktree in my profile biography.
#teapot #maker #craft #ceramics #pottery
Throwing and trimming teapots is just one stage in what’s otherwise quite a troublesome and daunting process. What comes after, the glazing especially, is always a tricker process than I imagine as there’s simply so much you have to take care over.
Compared to the rest of my output, mostly mugs, bowls and jars, I make relatively few teapots, which means I never quite build the same rhythm or familiarity with forms like these. The time required per piece is extremely high given how carefully they’re finished but I think they’re slowly improving.
I’m also testing a new lid detail on this one, a small trimmed groove around the top. It serves no practical function whatsoever, but instead creates a channel for the glaze to gather and settle into during the firing.
Glazing teapots is particularly complicated because every decision affects how the vessel performs afterwards. The way glaze settles inside the spout, or around the pierced holes where the tea flows through, can subtly change how the teapot pours. Achieving consistency is extraordinarily difficult but I’m not especially concerned with making perfectly dripless teapots, nor chasing flawless laminar pours every single time, though when either happen naturally it’s always keeping rewarding. I test the pouring and discuss what influences that in the longer video.
That’s what this weekend’s film explores, preparing a teapot like this for firing, waxing it, glazing it, tidying everything afterwards and finally subjecting it to a long reduction firing. If you’d like to see the full process, including the throwing, trimming and assembly, the fully narrated video can be found via the Linktree in my profile biography.
#teapot #maker #craft #ceramics #pottery
