Piha Iron Sands Glaze (possibly)

There has long been something of an orphan pot in this Titian collection. The pot is a standard form V119 (Vase shape number 19), probably from the late 1960s with a glaze that I am not familiar with. It was interesting enough to keep on the back of a shelf. It has a glaze more in keeping with what a 1960s New Zealand studio potter might have striven for, than anything approaching the art glazes Titian Studio is better known for.

Then, a couple of months ago, I received an email from Peter Savoy who is currently doing research for a possible book on Titian. He had found something in the archives at Auckland museum, and kindly sent me images of two pages out of the 2004 Titian Studio Retrospective Exhibition's visitor's book. The two pages had been written by Stephanie Buckle, daughter of Reg Taylor, who was one of the more important post-war English glaze makers employed by both Crown Lynn and Titian. The key piece of information Mrs Buckle imparts, that cause a penny to drop in this house, is that her father conducted experiments in the use of Piha iron sands for Cameron Brown, to achieve glaze effects. Could this pot be evidence for the use of Piha iron sand at Titian?

It certainly has the dark metallic lustre sheen in places than is similar to some of the Peter Stichbury plates I have seen which employ iron sands. For example:

It is very hard to see from these photos, but there are similarities in the flesh.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows if this theory might stand up. My sincere gratitude to Peter for providing this information, which suggests there might be a whole other range of Titian glazes out there. I will use more information Peter has found in a later post.

Postscript:
Ev from newzealandpottery.forumotion.net has sent me a photo of a pot with a glaze that has rutile in it, to compare with this one. The dark blue streaks from the rutile does appear to be similar to the one above.

Note: this is not a Titian shape

Titian's Leather Glaze: Mid-Century ceramic style

Perhaps one of the most stylish Titian Studio glazes was what Cameron Brown call his 'Leather Glaze".

Leather is from the same family of wonderful crackle glazes as the Lace Glaze, which was the subject of an earlier post on this blog. However, achieving the leather effect relies on a slightly different relationship between the two layers of glaze and their relative vitrification properties. In the course of the firing, the top matt black layer cures, hardens and shrinks first, while the white layer underneath remains molten, creating continents drifting apart.

The glaze effect is especially arresting when the kiln spirits bless a pot with roughly even overall jagged patination - the result is an object of art guided by man but determined by nature. 

Titian Leather Glaze Sample

This may be ultimately true for all glazes, but I think more so for these difficult textured crackle-type glazes. For example, Titian's marble or woodgrain finishes demand the sustained attention of a skilled human hand to achieve. Leather and lace-glazed pots would have been consigned to Titian's kiln with little more than a muttered prayer for divine favour.

As can be seen in the picture above, the pots could emerge from the kiln with a wide variety of leather crackle effects, ranging from dense to medium to quite sparse. 

There is sophistication to this glaze, which when applied to one of Titian's classical forms, results in an object of real beauty. So much so, that this glaze has just been revived by one of New Zealand's foremost craft potters, John Parker, who seems to favour a relatively sparse leather, or 'black crawled' crackle effect. Some examples can be found here, here, here and here.

Marble Glaze

Sorry for the long silence.

This post looks at the marble glaze, another of Titian's excellent range of mid-century art glazes. 'Marble', as with 'woodgrain' was developed by Teddy Rennie, and built on knowledge and techniques passed to him from his father, a decorator of stately homes who trained before the first World War in England. This means that these two glazes are in all probability direct decendants of techniques, passed from artisan to artisan, father to son, developed for the neo-classical interior design schemes of eighteenth century European manor houses. I have not seen comparable examples of either glaze on English or foreign ceramics, making them extraordinary examples of the inventiveness and elegance Titian was capable of.

Within their own context of post-war mid-twentieth century suburban New Zealand bungalows, these vases must have looked exotic and aspirational, but oddly quite compatible with clean, uncluttered modernist interior design aesthtics. In an era of import controls and domestic preference, they would have been the New Zealand venacular equivalent of the neo-neo-classical Wedgewood ceramics that sold so well in 1950s and 60s Britain, filling a demand for elegant eighteenth century design references that softened the increasing architectural minimalism of popular taste.

As with other Titian art glazes, they have passed though an era in which they were viewed as irredeemably kitch, but they represent the charming continuity of a comparatively ancient decorative tradition, repurposed for a culturally Europe-oriented, prosperous New Zealand middle class.

The colour palate range for this glaze is surprisingly extensive. Undoubtedly the 'signature' type is 'grey marble', but rarer examples of other colour patterns can be found. The pot below is a lampbase designed for and retailed by Eunice Chick, who owned a famous early Auckland design shop. I can only describe the colour as a sort of 'pink marble' glaze.

The lampbase has an underglazed incised mark 'W.G.' I don't yet know who this is

'Green Marble' must be one of the rarest varieties. It is simply gorgeous.

UPDATE:
Peter Savoy has located a great example of a Titian Black Marble glaze. I think this completes the range for this glaze. Thanks so much Peter!