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Continuing the Rowantrees Tradition

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You are here: Home / Glazes / Black and Seagull

Black and Seagull

Posted on12.03.14 by Geoff Miller

I have had several recent inquiries regarding the Black and Seagull glaze pattern. Rowantrees was once asked by the Maine Republican Party to produce a set of dinnerware in this patter for Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower when they made a trip to Maine in the 1950s. A set of what became known as the Eisenhower pattern now sits in the Smithsonian Institute’s Presidential China collection. I don’t believe it’s on permanent display, but it’s there.

And I made much of it!

Sheila Varnum resurrected Black and Seagull while I was working at Rowantrees and it quickly became a popular choice. Indeed, it is one of my favor

So it should not be a surprise that I did make an attempt to bring this pattern back. The initial results were excellent as the picture shows. But Black & Seagull Mugboth glazes had one minor problem. They did not apply at all easily to the pot. Because I apply the glazes using a spray gun (as Rowantrees always did), the glazes need to dry almost on impact to assure a smooth and consistent surface. These glazes did not dry at all quickly and would begin running down the side of the pot if I did not apply them in very thin coats. That meant that I had to stand there for a great deal of time to get a decent coating built up on the pot.

Spending a lot of time on one pot isn’t good when you’re trying to glaze several dozen of them at a stretch. So I began the process of finding a better glaze for the purpose. I found one that looked very promising and that applied very well (and wanted to be applied thinly anyway).

Then I got the word that I was going to have to move out of the building. Oh well.

So yes, Black and Seagull will return. Once I have a new workspace, the process of developing a new replacement for this wonderful pattern will begin anew.

Categories Glazes

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