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James & Tilla Waters
Ceramics
J&T Waters logo
James & Tilla Waters Ceramics

Yellow

As colours go, yellow is complicated. I’m wary of it in clothing (not very flattering against pale skin) and is probably my least favourite colour for flowers (too brash against green). Yet I like it on walls – it can make a room feel warm and sunny. In the abstract I find it happy and uplifting and it can be lovely on a pot.

There is a long tradition of yellow in ceramics: the Chinese were producing yellow glazes on porcelain in the C16th (low-fired using lead and iron). Although it was rare and reserved for the Emperor.

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A yellow glazed incised dish, China, Ming dynasty.

In the UK, yellow ware or “canaryware” was produced in the early C19th, again low-fired using toxic lead and antimony (and often causing blisters on the fingers of the factory workers who applied it). It is now very popular with collectors in America.

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C19th canaryware mug with lustre decoration

Studio potters today are more likely to take their inspiration from (two of my favourites) the Danish potter Inger Rokkjaer (1934 – 2008) whose clean forms are raku-fired and have a sense of warmth and humanity (below left). Or the seductively modernist work of Lucie Rie (1902 – 1995) who’s uranium oxide yellow glaze is bright yet soft (below right).

 

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During our apprenticeship I remember Rupert saying he wanted to make a buttery yellow glaze, then a few years after we left I saw this image of a tea set and was stunned by its elegance and minimalism.

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A yellow tea set by Rupert Spira

Generally glaze colours today are much safer and easier to achieve thanks to commercially prepared stains, although we still carry out a lot of glaze tests to find the right stain, concentration, opacity, thickness and firing temperature.

yellow test tiles, line blends and test beakers
Yellow glaze test tiles, line blends and test beakers

This is our yellow glaze, which I think is particularly nice on mugs. As one of our Instagram followers said: “a great way to brighten up the morning”. We haven’t made many yet but there are a few available in our shop.

yellow breakfast mug by James and Tilla Waters
Yellow breakfast mug by James and Tilla Waters

  1. A lovely thoughtful reflection on yellow. I’m with you on clothes and flowers, but I am often drawn to it on ceramics and in paintings.

  2. I just love this mug! Gentle and warm and indeed would be a perfect complement to crisp buttered toast.

  3. Reading an excellent biography of Lucie Rie by Emmanuel Cooper who quotes Serge Chermanyeff, architect and designer after a visit to the Bauhaus in Dessau ” If you want to introduce a cheerful note of yellow into a tea set you should have a yellow tea set, or yellow insides cups and saucers: you should not put on each cup and saucer a bunch of daisies or a canary.” Lucie Rie knew this instinctively.

  4. Glad to see you’ve perfected your yellow glaze. It is lovely, and a very suitable buttery colour for a breakfast mug. Hope all is well with you. Penny x

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