Glazing pots with wax.

[John Conyard]

I was paying a visit to Lee the Comitatus potter last week and was enjoying looking through his workshop. Lee makes contemporary as well as historical pottery. But I really like the finish Lee can get on an unglazed pot. He heats up a pot, rubs it with a polishing stick made of bees wax and "other stuff", and buffs it up into a shine. It makes an unglazed pot look really special.

I had bought a new pottery water bottle just out of the kiln, and I went home to experiment.
At first I tried Nik Wax, supposedly made of natural substances but smelling like a chemical plant. It just rubbed off leaving a vaguely dirty residue.

Then I used the same bees wax and lanolin I use on my leather work. The water bottle came up a treat. It's so easy. I then did a Crambeck drinking cup and an indented beaker. Then another Crambeck bowl. I'm trying to stop but it's addictive. I have tons of unglazed pottery, and it's all going to be covered in leather moisturiser. It even makes your hands soft as well.

To waterproof the inside of the bottle I just melted bees wax in an old saucepan, poured it in the bottle, sloshed it a round to coat the pottery, and pour out the residue. A speedy and simple job that I've done often.

But it is the external finish I'm pleased with.