Greg Shooner and Brenda Hornsby Heindl
As Real as It Gets : Lead Glazing and Traditional Wood-Firing

Ceramics in America 2018

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    The wood-firing pottery kiln of Greg Shooner and Mary Spellmire-Shooner, Oregonia, Ohio, December 3, 2015. (Photo, Brenda Hornsby Heindl.)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Greg Shooner stoking the firebox of his wood-firing kiln, December 3, 2015. (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Jar, Greg Shooner, Oregonia, Ohio, 2015. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 7 1/2". (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    A collection of pottery made by Greg Shooner in front of the firebox of his wood-firing kiln, December 3, 2015. (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Dish, attributed to Henry Troxel, Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1828. Lead-glazed earthenware. D. 10 1/4". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Map showing the location of potters working in Warren County, Ohio, in the nineteenth century.

    A. Joseph Walters, 1840–1860

    B. Merritt/Gray, 1810–1860

    C. Shaker, 1860–1851

    D. Wm. Jackson,Wm. Shugert,
    John Foglesong, 1835–1884

    E. George Foglesong, 1810–1831

    F. Thomas Swift, 1808–1836

    G. Elisha Vance, 1828

    H. Silas Ballard 1859–1879

    I. Wm. Jared, 1848–1883

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Jar, attributed to Stephen Easton, Union Village Shaker community, Warren County, Ohio, 1827. Lead-glazed earthenware. Mark (incised on base): August / the 17, 1827 / Stephen (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Illustration of the inscription on the base of the jar illustrated in fig. 7. 

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Aerial view of excavation on the North Family Lot, Union Village Shaker community, Warren County, Ohio, 2005. (Courtesy, Ohio Department of Transportation.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Nineteenth-century pipe heads excavated at the North Family Lot, Union Village Shaker community, Warren County, Ohio, 1804–1852. (Courtesy, Ohio Department of Transportation.)

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Raw clay before it is processed in the pug mill. (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Raw clay before it is put into the pug mill, showing the distinct color variations that will blend in the pug mill. (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Dish, Mary Spellmire-Shooner, Oregonia, Ohio, 2015. Lead-glazed earthenware with slip-painted decoration. D. 8". (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Detail of the slip-painted decoration on the dish illustrated in fig. 13.

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Jar, Greg Shooner, Oregonia, Ohio, 2015. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 6". (Photo, Rob Manko.) Note that the white slip-trailing under the lead glaze, made using an iron-rich clay, gives the white slip a yellow appearance. 

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Jug, Greg Shooner, Oregonia, Ohio, 2015. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 8". (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Firebox for the Shooners’ wood-firing kiln showing the deep red color that appears during reduction. (Photo, Brenda Hornsby Heindl.)

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Flames coming through the ceiling of the wood-firing kiln and black smoke showing signs of reduction. (Photo, Brenda Hornsby Heindl.)

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Showing the bright interior of the kiln and the visible sheen as the glaze fluxes during reduction. (Photo, Brenda Hornsby Heindl.)

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    Jar, New Market, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, 1860–1880. Lead‑glazed earthenware. H. 7 1/2". (Courtesy, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Auctions, June 17, 2017, sale lot #1016; photo, Will McGuffin.)

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Close-up of the jar illustrated in fig. 20, showing several places where organic material had burned out and left a small hole for oxygen to create a halo.    

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Jar, attributed to Galena, Illinois, 1860–1880. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 8 5/8". (Courtesy, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Auctions; photo, Will McGuffin.)

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Close-up of the base of the jar illustrated in fig. 22. Leaving the base unglazed allowed the glaze to oxidize around the base of exposed clay, creating a ring of yellow-orange color.

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Jar, Greg Shooner, Oregonia, Ohio, 2015. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 10". (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 25
    Figure 25

    Close-up of one of Greg Shooner’s pieces on which a halo has formed. Note the pinhead hole at the center where the oxygen entered beneath the glazed surface. (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 26
    Figure 26

    Left to right: Mary-Spellmire Shooner, Dorothy Auman, and Walter Auman, Seagrove, North Carolina, ca. 1986. (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 27
    Figure 27

    Pottery stacked in the Shooner kiln, ready for firing, December 3, 2015. (Photo, Brenda Hornsby Heindl.)    

  • Figure 28
    Figure 28

    Extruded rail-style kiln furniture from the pottery site of Jacob Meddinger, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, ca. 1920. (Private collection; photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 29
    Figure 29

    Dish resting on rail-style kiln furniture. (Photo, Rob Manko.)

  • Figure 30
    Figure 30

    Dishes with coggled rims sitting on rail-style kiln furniture leaning against one another prior to firing. (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 31
    Figure 31

    Back edge of dishes that were leaning against one another during firing; the small marks show where the coggled edge made contact with another piece. (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 32
    Figure 32

    Coggling the edge of a dish. (Photo, Greg Shooner.)

  • Figure 33
    Figure 33

    Dish, Henry Roudebusch, Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1816. Lead‑glazed earthenware. D. 11 7/8". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art.) The downward flow of the green copper oxides indicates that the dish was standing upright in the kiln during firing.

  • Figure 34
    Figure 34

    Pottery unloaded after the 2015 lead-glazed wood-fired kiln firing in the Shooner pottery shop. (Photo, Brenda Hornsby Heindl.)