5,000 Year Old Chinese Beer Recipe from Pottery

"Archaeologists discovered ancient beer-making tools in underground rooms, that were built somewhere between 3400 and 2900 B.C. The discovery was made at a dig site in the Central Plain of China and contained  pots, funnels and specially designed jugs. Objects suggest they were probably used for brewing, filtration and storage of beer."

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3,000 Year Old piece of pottery in Papua New Guinea

"A piece of red, glossy pottery found in the rugged highlands of Papua New Guinea has been shown to be the oldest-known pottery in New Guinea. Tim Denham of Australian National University, working with researchers from Otago University, obtained precise dates for the pottery as part of a study to learn more about how the technology spread throughout the Pacific. People who lived on the coast of Papua New Guinea would have had contact with seafaring, pottery-making cultures such as the Lapita people. “It’s an example of how technology spread among cultures. Some pottery must have soon found its way into the highlands, which inspired the highlanders to try making it themselves,” Denham said in a press release. “And it shows human history is not always a smooth progression—later on pottery making was abandoned across most of the highlands of New Guinea. No one knows when or why,” he said. To read about smoked mummies in Papua New Guinea, go to the current issue's "World Roundup."

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Recreating Booze from Ancient Pottery

"Resurrecting ancient beers and wines is a subtle alchemy, but Patrick McGovern knows all the tricks. He directs the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Many of his ancient brews are sold by Dogfish Head brewery in Delaware.
 

How did you start making ancient drinks?
One of the first we made was the Midas beverage, based on residues in bronze vessels recovered from the Midas tomb in Turkey, which dates from 700 B.C. These pointed to an unusual drink combining wine, barley beer, and mead. There were also food remains in the tomb that suggested a barbecued lamb or goat stew with lentils and spices. We tried to recreate the funerary feast as a way of bringing the past to life.

How do you go about recreating a drink?
People give me either samples of pottery or residues from ancient vessels possibly used for making, storing, or drinking a fermented beverage. I identify the markers of specific natural products: Tartaric acid is a fingerprint compound for grapes in the Middle East, for example, while calcium oxalate points to the presence of barley beer.

What did the Midas beverage taste like?
We knew the three basic components—grapes, barley, and honey—but we didn’t know what the bittering agent was. It couldn’t be hops, as they only became available in Europe around 700, so we looked at the eastern Mediterranean spices that would have been available: saffron, cardamom, bitter vetch, cumin. In a competition among microbreweries to recreate the beverage, Delaware-based Dogfish Head used the best-quality saffron as their bittering agent, as well as Greek honey made from thyme blossom. Their winning beverage was on the sweet side, but the saffron gave it aromatic properties."

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Phenomenal

Phenomenal from R&A Collaborations on Vimeo.

"Jin Eui Kim is a ceramic artist, originally from South Korea. He graduated from Cardiff School of Art & Design with a MA and PhD in Ceramics, during which time he studied the illusory effects of application of black through to white to three-dimensional surfaces.

Jin Eui explores in depth tonal effects and spatial illusions, creating works that are both visually and intellectually challenging. He makes both none-functional sculpture works of horizontal and vertical cylinder forms and functional ware, applies the principles of creation of illusory spatial phenomena such as gradient in tone and size of bands. He also tries to understand more, the quality of clay and how it can be combined with subtle variations of tone to create the illusory spatial phenomena.
jineuikim.com"

via musing about mud

The Innocent Glaze - Anagama kiln

Passion for Porcelain

Edmund de Waal: What do artists do all day?

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Poetry in Clay: Exploring Korean Buncheong Ceramics

Cranes and Clouds: Evolution of the Inlay Technique in Korean Ceramics

info: firing tips for saggar and raku

 "The saggar firing is more successful if the saggars are similar to the size and shape of your pot. A tall vase will require two elongated bowl shapes, or one very tall saggar with a shallow bowl lid. A small pot round pot needs a smaller round saggar. For the best results, allow at least an inch of air space between your saggar wall and the sides of your pot. The amount of air space on the top of the saggar is not as critical, and variations in space provide variations in your finished pot. Typically, you should have at least an inch to about 5 inches of space above the pot.

The walls of the saggar are thrown to about ¹/8 to ¼ of an inch thick. A consistent thickness throughout the saggar walls helps to prevent cracking during the firing process. Even so, the saggars will eventually crack. The crack can be patched with kiln cement and used until they completely fall apart. The saggars are bisque fired to cone 08–06."

More info here

info: Making a living as a potter

Diana Fayt says:

"I sell my work through a multitude of venues. I have an online shop where I sell directly to customers. This has broadened my spectrum of buyers to a world market. It also helps to supplement my income, since I can sell my work for retail prices. I love having direct contact with my customers as well. The relationship aspect of selling my work, without a middle person, is really wonderful and I enjoy knowing where my work is going. I participate in a couple of local craft shows each year, and I host annual studio and holiday sales. I sell my work in galleries and participate in as many shows as I can handle. I find showing my work really helps it to stay fresh. In the past, a large part of my sales were from wholesaling my work, though that model is really tough to pull off with one-of-a-kind handmade work. I find the time it takes to make the work, handle all the details that must go into creating a wholesale line-like keeping up with communication and paperwork-is far too much work and really does not pay off.

[...]

If I were to advise someone about pursuing a career in ceramics, the first bit would be to remain flexible yet focused. Though my work stays consistent, I find that I am constantly re-inventing myself in order to make a living with it. I do my best to keep an open mind about this. There really are a multitude of possibilities out there for one to have a career as a ceramist. Being too precious or limited in ones thinking can kill that dream."

Source: advice from the experts