Some platters waiting to be trimmed.
Whether as a focal point or used to accentuate a delicious meal, hand-made platters showcase the depth of the potter's knowledge and their attention to detail. That's a fancy way of saying that large platters are thorny buggers to make. Clay doesn't like to be large and flat; large and curved like a bowl is easy but creating large flat pieces requires skill, patience, and a few tricks of the trade.
The actual making of the platter is straightforward, put a lump of clay onto the potter's wheel, center it, then throw it into a shallow bowl, flatten the bottom and throw the rim. Here is where attention to detail and patience begins:
Push the rim a little too low, and it collapses.
This rim went wonky when I pulled the cut off wire underneath to separate it from the bat.
Here’s one that’s successful.
Over a vast expanse of clay (15"), the cut-off wire will rise in the center, sometimes making the center of the platter too thin.
The bottom needs to be thick enough to allow the cut-off wire through while allowing for a quarter to half-inch foot.
The rim and the bottom are of different thicknesses. It's tricky to know when the edge is dry enough to support the weight of the base while holding its shape. Here's where patience is your friend. It can take up to a week.
The next step is trimming, which means finishing the pot by removing the excess clay on the bottom that could not be accessed while throwing; giving the pot's walls and bottom an even consistent thickness throughout is essential to firing.
