Lidded Jars with Spoons

lidded jar with decorated ceramic spoon

This week I glaze-fired some functional pieces, including some lidded sugar bowls with spoons.

glazed spoons before firing

I've seen a lot of clay spoons this year online and even in my classroom. I'd never made a clay spoon, so I thought I'd try it. They're pretty simple to make, though I haven't really tried picking up sugar with them yet.

ladle style spoon and sugar jar

I made a few different styles of spoons, including one that is shaped more like a miniature ladle so that it can be pulled straight up out of the sugar.

two lidded jars with different shaped spoons

I made several different jars with more or less similar lids. I'm fairly happy with the lids and jars as I threw them and the slip trailed and celadon glazed surfaces. 

knob'n'all style jars

I made one real mistake, and that was not firing the lids on their bases. I usually do, but the knob'n'all pieces were going to be a little fussy to fire together because of the lid flange which would have touched the glazed interior wall. A sophisticated solution would have been to wad the lid up off the base and fired them together. I took the lazy route, fired them separately, and now the slip trailed decoration on my blue lid don't line up correctly. 

book decorated vase/cup/jar

I also tried out a new slip/glaze decoration on the bottom of one piece. The colorful rectangles on the bottom are meant to represent books. I haven't decided if I like the books yet. 

I'm happiest with the lid fit and spoon fit on this sugar dish

I may make some more similar jars next time I throw. I tentatively agreed to make a matched set for someone who requested one, but I also have a couple other things to finish up in the near future.