Another Teapot?

Yes, maybe another teapot is in the works. The wheel thrown teapot turned out pretty well (still waiting to be bisque fired) and since then I've been dreaming about a having a square teapot as well. I've been paging through my Lark Book (500 Teapots) and have come across quite a few which I love. Basically the book was inspiration to create a hand built teapot, which I'll detail about below.

Creating a block type object requires straight and measure slabs of even clay. So first I had to roll out the clay to even thickness, and cut to my desires measurements. 18cmx18cm base and 10cm tall sides (square teapot)








Using the fleshly cut and rolled out clay isn't practical since it's still way to soft to stand on its own. So I let mine sit for 2 days in a Styrofoam box with some towels. Once I took the pieces out they were still a little wobbly so I stacked them between drywall boards to suck up some more moisture. This step is a little tricky since you have to keep checking them about every 5 min to make sure they're not getting too dry. (otherwise they'll crack)

The it's time to start putting those pieces together. I scored the edges where each piece would attach and used liquid clay (super soft clay goop type stuff) and a brush to make sure everything was attached. Of course there were some spots that needed a little extra so I had some soft clay on hand to smooth out edges and fill in gaps.


Next it was time for the top to be put on, the trickiest part. I wanted a very square like shape so to make the lid coincide with the base being level after firing, I had to make it slightly curved. When clay is fired it always sags a bit so you have to predict and make up the difference. A slight curve will ensure the top comes out level. (and of course I couldn't forget the hole on the top to put hot water inside)


After sealing and sag preparation is done it looks something like this. There is newspaper stuffed inside to make sure the top doesn't drop down while waiting to be bisque fired.

It looks nice but to my dismay its pretty heavy and I'm just not into it. I have the tendency to make things too small and regret it later, but this time I tried not to do that and ended up with something too big. Probably 15cm would've been better than 18.

It's currently waiting for me in the styrofoam box, but most likely it'll turn into a vase or get doused with water and remade. *Sigh...