[Mccoypottery-talk] re HNH Book info, grecian planter/crazing

[Jennifer Ley]

Hi ...

Here's an amazon.com link to all the current books on McCoy ... the HNH
books are the first two ... (are there new price guide inserts or
updates out there that amazon doesn't have ?? does anyone know??)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/107-3029291-9537350

I find that I've needed both books ... as they don't just mirror each
other.  If there's a Barnes and Noble near you ... they can get you any
of these books and may have some in stock ... that's where I bought
mine.

Hope that helps.

Crazing is a fine network of surface cracks that develops on some pots
as they age, but not on all.  With the Grecian pots ... the gold 'veins'

are not crazing ... that was an applied effect (the HNH book talks about

that.) Technically, crazing occurs because the actual clay body of the
pot shrinks at a slightly different rate than the glaze on top of it
after the glaze firing  (glazed pots are usually fired twice, once from
raw to what is called bisque and then again to a higher temperature once

the glaze is applied)  The shrinkage isn't enough to crack the pot, just

enough to stress the glaze on top.  This will make the pot more
susceptible to staining ... liquid can get in those little craze marks
over time, and ultimately (but we're talking probably more years than
any of us will own these pots) weaken the structure of the pot itself.

Hope that helps.  If anyone ever has any pottery terminology/chemistry
etc questions I'm always willing to help ... this is what I studied in
art school ages ago.

Jennifer


My Great Aunt Agnes
http://www.heelstone.com/agnes/