Mot pot

This pot, commissioned for a birthday present, is influenced by woven grass hats of Southern Africa. It has been hand-built using a combination of coil and slab techniques using lightly-grogged terracotta. It could be used for a sangoma's muti or even a bodega's amontillado.

Once again, my emphasis was on creating surface variation using texture rather than coloured glazes. The lower section was pressed with heavy canvas while the middle ring was formed using a sharpened clothes peg, one indentation at a time. The top section was highly polished using water paper and waxed.

The stopper was made from a solid cylinder of clay that was drilled out with a spade bit at the leather-hard stage. After firing, the cork from a sherry bottle was glued in to complete the stopper.

To make the pot waterproof, I added a clear glaze to the inside of the pot, swirled it round to give a thorough coating and tipped out the excess. Unfortunately, the internal glaze was too thick and when it was re-fired, it put too much stress on the base of the pot which cracked. I made a second, identical pot (but without the crack) to fulfill the commission.