The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ale bowls are Norwegian folk-art objects that were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries in rural farming communities. My initial interest in this form came from my great-grandmother’s practice of Rosemaling, decorative folk painting, wooden plates and furniture that my great-grandfather had made. Through researching this folk tradition, I stumbled upon ale bowls through the collection at Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School in Decorah, Iowa, which displays historical and contemporary Norwegian folk arts. An article by Carol Hasvold, the former registrar at Vesterheim, researches the use and cultural significance of ale and ale bowls within rural Norwegian culture. My own experience in the rural Midwest is full of childhood memories, some of the strongest ones being the winter holidays. In reading how ale bowls were used at Christmastime as an essential part of celebrating their communal spirit, I remembered visiting the family farm and going to my great-grandma’s. She would wear her traditional Norwegian clothing, and the whole extended family would crowd around in her small living room to sing Christmas hymns in broken Norse.
Through the ale bowl, I am connecting to my cultural heritage, and translating these objects from wood into ceramic allows me to blend the aesthetics of my functional work while honoring the folk-art tradition. As I labor with my hands in the clay, I contemplate my ancestors toiling with their hands in the earth, wood, and stone. These objects unite the farmer and the academic at a common table, evoking a timeless truth: the glorious can be found in the mundane, and the divine in the common.
Throwing
Just as I bridge the divide between the farmer and the academic, in making these forms, I bring together two distinct processes: the wheel-thrown bowl and the handbuilt finials. I start by throwing a series of bowls off a hump of clay (1). Once the base of the bowl has been formed, I leave a nice thick rim so that when I compress it between a hard metal rib and a soft silicone rib, I have a generous lip that draws your eye down into the interior of the bowl (2).
A unique aspect of my thrown forms is the altering process. It is a combination of folding and pulling the clay into a soft square and then using an old, modified tiling trowel to create the vertical textures that I use on all my pieces (3). I work loosely, eyeballing four different quadrants on the wall of the bowl. When I carve the textures, I start at the base, pushing the jagged edge of the trowel into the soft clay with my right hand. I work slowly, dragging and carving the soft clay with the trowel lines, like a plow tilling furrows into the soil. I am careful that the tool does not catch and tear the thin clay wall. I repeat this process three more times, creating a series of equal vertical lines on the four different sides of the bowl.
Once I have carved the ridges, I fold the clay between each set of vertical furrows. By placing my left hand on the inside of the bowl, I press outward with my middle fingers while my right hand, on the exterior, pinches the base of the clay between my thumb and pointer finger. As I draw both my hands up at the same time, the clay gently bends and folds, creating the soft square where there was once a circle (4). I repeat this process with each quadrant. I wire off the bowl and set it down on a plaster slab. Once the bowl has dried to a soft leather hard, I trim the bottom on a stiff leather-hard chuck (5, 6). I trim a standard foot ring (7), but while the foot is still fresh, I will alter it very gently into a soft square by pinching each corner between my right thumb and pointer finger while my left thumb gently pushes outward, imitating the shape of the rim.
Handbuilding the Finials
With the finials, I love the freedom, flexibility, and expression that handbuilding offers. With the bowl as a base, I start by adding two wedges of clay to buttress the sides of the bowl. This wedge is about ½ pound (227 grams) of material that is pinched into a pyramid shape, with a wide base and a thin point at the top. I then flip it and score both the wall of the bowl and the wedge of clay (8, 9). This wedge is essential as it allows the silhouette of the ale bowl a fullness, mirroring the traditional ale bowls carved from wood, and gives the finials a solid attachment point. I work on opposite sides of the bowl, which ensures that the piece is balanced and doesn’t become lopsided and tip over!
Using my thumb, I mush the two bits of clay together. I make sure they have a solid connection, then go over the clay surface with a small-toothed metal rib, before smoothing with the standard metal rib (10, 11). I work with solid bits of clay; this includes rim and the neck for the finial (12–14). This allows me to get the curve of the neck that I want while having enough mass to help support the weight of the animal’s head on top (15–18). Here I will pause and pay attention to the exterior silhouette of the bowl. Taking time to stop, breathe, and refine as needed. I place the piece under plastic overnight, which allows the moisture in the newly added material to even out and stiffen up a bit to support the head that will be added next.
The finials are based on my research in Viking-era burial goods, like the carved animal heads from the Oseberg Burial Mound. To make the head shape, I pinch out a small bowl with a little less than a golf ball of clay (19). Then I score and slip the pinched bowl on top of the neck and reinforce it with a small coil of clay (20). I smooth out this coil, creating a seamless transition between the neck and the head. I work intuitively, adding some bits of clay at a time (21): attaching tiny coils where the brow will be, a small wedge of clay for the lower jaw, and a slightly larger wedge of clay for the upper jaw (22, 23). Being very aware of the timing of these parts, so that they are stiff enough to hold their weight.
Due to the diminutive size of the heads, I was not able to incorporate all the details in the historical pieces. The inspiration behind the finials were also made of wood (like the original ale bowls), and had a whole series of decorative carvings that were engraved on the surface. I chose not to replicate these carvings because of the small size of the finial heads, but instead focused on the facial features and creature characteristics that could be realized in form—the gaping mouth, the articulating tongue, the deep-set eyes, the high eyebrows, and the small selection of carved teeth along the mouth. These elements I knew would be able to stand out from the atmospheric firing process and not get obscured if there were heavy ash or soda deposits on the work. Looking to give the finial an element of believable fantasy, I articulate a tongue with a very sharp S-shaped curve. The tongue is a small coil of clay that is pinched into a fine point and then molded into its shape. It is added after the upper and lower jaws are in place. For the eyes, I start by creating a flat area just below the eyebrows. I press a small concave socket into the clay using the rounded end of one of my tools. I pierce the eye socket with the back of my needle tool, creating a hole that stands in for the pupil. The process of the additive and subtractive construction on the head highlights the atmospheric firing process that will occur later. I then add two small coils for the ears and place them on the back of the neck, then finish the head with a few carved details where the nose will be and attach some very small teeth.
After the work has had time to stiffen up, I brush on three coats of white slip on the exterior and on the rim of the bowl (24). The addition of wet slip rehydrates the neck of the ale bowls, so I have a series of wooden dowels to place in the interior concave curve of the neck, supporting the head until the neck is able to hold its own weight again. After slipping the work, I carve back through the recessed areas: the eyes, the nose, the ridges in the eyebrows, the ear canals, and the vertical ridges on the side of the bowl. I slowly dry out the piece and, once it is bone dry, I will load the work into an electric kiln and bisque fire it to cone 08.
Decoration and Firing
So much time and effort has gone into the form of the bowl that a simple surface is the best answer for the work (25). I brush three coats of flashing slip on the exterior of the bowl and the finial heads. I will pour the flashing slip into the interior of the bowl and pour it back out. I then use a wax resist around the rim of the bowl and the heads. I pour a volcanic ash and wood ash liner glaze into the interior of the ale bowl that will interact with the underlying flashing slip, being sure to clean up any drips or spills from the liner glaze on the exterior. The piece is then wadded and loaded into a high-fire atmospheric kiln. The wood kiln is my first choice for ale bowls, but because of the size of the kiln, I will also fire these in a smaller soda kiln. As the atmospheric firing interacts with the piece, the physical flames bend, lick, and cover the work. The scars of this process are embedded in the form, while the flux and clay from the flashing slip give the piece a matte or eggshell appearance, much like the satin finish of wax on the turned wooden ale bowl of old.
the author Eric Ordway is a potter and ceramic artist who works at the University of Missouri as the fine arts technician and adjunct professor. He is based in Columbia, Missouri, with his wife, Chelseá, and their dog, Lily. You can find more about his work at ericordway.com.
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The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ale bowls are Norwegian folk-art objects that were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries in rural farming communities. My initial interest in this form came from my great-grandmother’s practice of Rosemaling, decorative folk painting, wooden plates and furniture that my great-grandfather had made. Through researching this folk tradition, I stumbled upon ale bowls through the collection at Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School in Decorah, Iowa, which displays historical and contemporary Norwegian folk arts. An article by Carol Hasvold, the former registrar at Vesterheim, researches the use and cultural significance of ale and ale bowls within rural Norwegian culture. My own experience in the rural Midwest is full of childhood memories, some of the strongest ones being the winter holidays. In reading how ale bowls were used at Christmastime as an essential part of celebrating their communal spirit, I remembered visiting the family farm and going to my great-grandma’s. She would wear her traditional Norwegian clothing, and the whole extended family would crowd around in her small living room to sing Christmas hymns in broken Norse.
Through the ale bowl, I am connecting to my cultural heritage, and translating these objects from wood into ceramic allows me to blend the aesthetics of my functional work while honoring the folk-art tradition. As I labor with my hands in the clay, I contemplate my ancestors toiling with their hands in the earth, wood, and stone. These objects unite the farmer and the academic at a common table, evoking a timeless truth: the glorious can be found in the mundane, and the divine in the common.
Throwing
Just as I bridge the divide between the farmer and the academic, in making these forms, I bring together two distinct processes: the wheel-thrown bowl and the handbuilt finials. I start by throwing a series of bowls off a hump of clay (1). Once the base of the bowl has been formed, I leave a nice thick rim so that when I compress it between a hard metal rib and a soft silicone rib, I have a generous lip that draws your eye down into the interior of the bowl (2).
A unique aspect of my thrown forms is the altering process. It is a combination of folding and pulling the clay into a soft square and then using an old, modified tiling trowel to create the vertical textures that I use on all my pieces (3). I work loosely, eyeballing four different quadrants on the wall of the bowl. When I carve the textures, I start at the base, pushing the jagged edge of the trowel into the soft clay with my right hand. I work slowly, dragging and carving the soft clay with the trowel lines, like a plow tilling furrows into the soil. I am careful that the tool does not catch and tear the thin clay wall. I repeat this process three more times, creating a series of equal vertical lines on the four different sides of the bowl.
Once I have carved the ridges, I fold the clay between each set of vertical furrows. By placing my left hand on the inside of the bowl, I press outward with my middle fingers while my right hand, on the exterior, pinches the base of the clay between my thumb and pointer finger. As I draw both my hands up at the same time, the clay gently bends and folds, creating the soft square where there was once a circle (4). I repeat this process with each quadrant. I wire off the bowl and set it down on a plaster slab. Once the bowl has dried to a soft leather hard, I trim the bottom on a stiff leather-hard chuck (5, 6). I trim a standard foot ring (7), but while the foot is still fresh, I will alter it very gently into a soft square by pinching each corner between my right thumb and pointer finger while my left thumb gently pushes outward, imitating the shape of the rim.
Handbuilding the Finials
With the finials, I love the freedom, flexibility, and expression that handbuilding offers. With the bowl as a base, I start by adding two wedges of clay to buttress the sides of the bowl. This wedge is about ½ pound (227 grams) of material that is pinched into a pyramid shape, with a wide base and a thin point at the top. I then flip it and score both the wall of the bowl and the wedge of clay (8, 9). This wedge is essential as it allows the silhouette of the ale bowl a fullness, mirroring the traditional ale bowls carved from wood, and gives the finials a solid attachment point. I work on opposite sides of the bowl, which ensures that the piece is balanced and doesn’t become lopsided and tip over!
Using my thumb, I mush the two bits of clay together. I make sure they have a solid connection, then go over the clay surface with a small-toothed metal rib, before smoothing with the standard metal rib (10, 11). I work with solid bits of clay; this includes rim and the neck for the finial (12–14). This allows me to get the curve of the neck that I want while having enough mass to help support the weight of the animal’s head on top (15–18). Here I will pause and pay attention to the exterior silhouette of the bowl. Taking time to stop, breathe, and refine as needed. I place the piece under plastic overnight, which allows the moisture in the newly added material to even out and stiffen up a bit to support the head that will be added next.
The finials are based on my research in Viking-era burial goods, like the carved animal heads from the Oseberg Burial Mound. To make the head shape, I pinch out a small bowl with a little less than a golf ball of clay (19). Then I score and slip the pinched bowl on top of the neck and reinforce it with a small coil of clay (20). I smooth out this coil, creating a seamless transition between the neck and the head. I work intuitively, adding some bits of clay at a time (21): attaching tiny coils where the brow will be, a small wedge of clay for the lower jaw, and a slightly larger wedge of clay for the upper jaw (22, 23). Being very aware of the timing of these parts, so that they are stiff enough to hold their weight.
Due to the diminutive size of the heads, I was not able to incorporate all the details in the historical pieces. The inspiration behind the finials were also made of wood (like the original ale bowls), and had a whole series of decorative carvings that were engraved on the surface. I chose not to replicate these carvings because of the small size of the finial heads, but instead focused on the facial features and creature characteristics that could be realized in form—the gaping mouth, the articulating tongue, the deep-set eyes, the high eyebrows, and the small selection of carved teeth along the mouth. These elements I knew would be able to stand out from the atmospheric firing process and not get obscured if there were heavy ash or soda deposits on the work. Looking to give the finial an element of believable fantasy, I articulate a tongue with a very sharp S-shaped curve. The tongue is a small coil of clay that is pinched into a fine point and then molded into its shape. It is added after the upper and lower jaws are in place. For the eyes, I start by creating a flat area just below the eyebrows. I press a small concave socket into the clay using the rounded end of one of my tools. I pierce the eye socket with the back of my needle tool, creating a hole that stands in for the pupil. The process of the additive and subtractive construction on the head highlights the atmospheric firing process that will occur later. I then add two small coils for the ears and place them on the back of the neck, then finish the head with a few carved details where the nose will be and attach some very small teeth.
After the work has had time to stiffen up, I brush on three coats of white slip on the exterior and on the rim of the bowl (24). The addition of wet slip rehydrates the neck of the ale bowls, so I have a series of wooden dowels to place in the interior concave curve of the neck, supporting the head until the neck is able to hold its own weight again. After slipping the work, I carve back through the recessed areas: the eyes, the nose, the ridges in the eyebrows, the ear canals, and the vertical ridges on the side of the bowl. I slowly dry out the piece and, once it is bone dry, I will load the work into an electric kiln and bisque fire it to cone 08.
Decoration and Firing
So much time and effort has gone into the form of the bowl that a simple surface is the best answer for the work (25). I brush three coats of flashing slip on the exterior of the bowl and the finial heads. I will pour the flashing slip into the interior of the bowl and pour it back out. I then use a wax resist around the rim of the bowl and the heads. I pour a volcanic ash and wood ash liner glaze into the interior of the ale bowl that will interact with the underlying flashing slip, being sure to clean up any drips or spills from the liner glaze on the exterior. The piece is then wadded and loaded into a high-fire atmospheric kiln. The wood kiln is my first choice for ale bowls, but because of the size of the kiln, I will also fire these in a smaller soda kiln. As the atmospheric firing interacts with the piece, the physical flames bend, lick, and cover the work. The scars of this process are embedded in the form, while the flux and clay from the flashing slip give the piece a matte or eggshell appearance, much like the satin finish of wax on the turned wooden ale bowl of old.
the author Eric Ordway is a potter and ceramic artist who works at the University of Missouri as the fine arts technician and adjunct professor. He is based in Columbia, Missouri, with his wife, Chelseá, and their dog, Lily. You can find more about his work at ericordway.com.
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