sprigs

In article , sandi writes

I apply sprigs to pots that are on the soft side of leather hard. Putting the sprig onto a soft cloth pad, dampen the underside and then apply to the pot surface which has been pre-wetted with a sponge. I then seal the edges with a nearly wet soft brush.

I thought I was the only one who didn't know what the heck a sprig was...

Deb R.

Me too! would sombody please tell us?

Monika

-- Monika Schleidt snipped-for-privacy@schleidt.org

I learned recently that sprigs are any little three dimensional design you want to add to your piece while it is still green. I've seen many different kinds. A fellow potter took a broken porcelain china doll face and pressed into a small slab of clay. She removed the doll face and fired the "negative" face to bisque. You can then press a ball of clay into the "mold" As it dries it loosens and pops out. You repeat this for as many as you want. She slips and scores the pot where she wants to place the little face.

There are limitless sprigs you can make. Apparently, potters would take "sprigs" of some plant and press them into clay making a mold. The green clay sprigs would be applied to the surface of a vase or pot giving a raised relief design. It's tricky but dramatic. Getting that unity of the sprig with the pot is hard to do so that you see no seams and without damaging either the sprig or the pot.

Please correct me if my idea of a "sprig" is incorrect.

Diego

Thanks! Correct or not, it sounds like an interesting thing to try...

Deb R.

Diego is correct, for as far as he went. (You get an A+ Diego :>) Has no one ever heard of the phrase "A sprig of ....", meaning a piece cut off for another use? Think herbs.

Some people do create small molds in order to make "medallions" of clay which are then score and slipped onto a piece that is leather hard. I do that myself with seashells and starfish (use what you have available!) Some potters also dip stronger patterned leaves into slip (one side) a few times to build up a thickness, and then apply the slip-sprigged pattern to the piece. (And then remove the leaf!)

A sprig does not have to be two dimensional, such as the medallion above. A handle which is pulled or formed and then "attached" to another piece can be considered a sprig as well. Coils of clay lain over the surface of a piece are sprigs, as are anything you would choose to attach to another (usually) larger) piece.

Taken these days a sprig is usually a piece of decorated or carved or formed clay (or all three!) attached to another piece or pot in order to further decorate it.

For an excellent idea on sprigging, you should consider consulting Vince Pitelka's book "Clay-A Studio Handbook" or Tony Birks "The Complete Potter's Companion" or Robert Pipenberg's "Sprit of Clay".

Great books for beginning potters, and you'll use them again and again as reference.

Another TRULY excellent book is Frank and Janet Hamer's "The Potter's Dictionary".

All those books can be gotten from your pottery supplier, or any bookseller, or online at some place like half.ebay.com (cheap! used!)

I wouldn't be without those books, and my copies are getting pretty threadbare from all the use.... not to mention full of clay fingerprints

Hope that helps! Wayne Seidl

Diego you are spot on.

The most well known examples of Sprigging are on pottery produced by the Wedgwood Factory.

Steve Bath UK

In article , Diego writes