Terra Sigillata

Terra Sigillata or Terra Sig, for short is a glaze made from clay. It takes four days to make. A lot of mixing and straining of the glaze must be done to get the right consistency. Twenty five times in fact, it must set 48 hours or more, to get the three different layers. The top layer water is siphoned off and discarded being careful not to disturb the next layer, which is the actual Terra Sig; it should be cloudy and thin. One must be careful only to siphon the fine particles and avoid the sludge. The Sig is now put into another container. While the third layer is heavy and thick, it is thrown away. It is a very tedious procedure. The Terra Sig is now cooked down a third and left to stand.

Terra Sig glaze has been made by Native Americans this way for hundreds of years. It is applied to leather hard pottery. Polished using leather or a smooth rock, it is called burnishing. The pottery is then fired in a kiln.

For the smoking effect, the pottery is heated up slowly, and then wrapped in newspaper, and put into a pit that has been burning for 2 hours. Getting the impeding moisture out of the ground is important. Heat and damp earth together will shatter pottery. Caution must be used during the pit firing to prevent breakage. Only 2 to 4 pots can be in the pit at a time. The pottery is turned throughout the firing and if two pots tap together, they are broken. A mixture of hard and soft wood shavings, pine spills and newspaper is used for the smoking. It continues until the desired effect is achieved. It can take up to an hour or more. When the pottery is cooled, I clean the pots up from the excess smoke and ash. Each pot takes an hour or more to clean. A sealant is applied and then the pot is polished. Sometimes I decorate the pots with leather, feathers and sweet grass. And sometimes beads, shells or pearls are added to get the effect I'm looking for. This can sometimes take days.

Unfortunately Terra Sig is an art form only. It is a very beautiful and expressive glaze, but also very porous which makes it unacceptable to eat from.

	Small Urn Sweetgrass stitched onto cover. Birch Bark cut to resemble leafs flowing down - 8" tall by 22" around. $188.00
Small Vase The sweet grass braid is 4 stain braid. 5" tall by 12" around. $55.00
	Vase with Shells About 4 1/2" tall and 13" around. $55.00
Vase The wood on this peice is Herry Louder. It is stitched on with the sinew. The leafs are Birch Bark - 8" tall and 19" around. $190.00
	Small Vase with Sea Lavender Set on a leaf. It was shaped from bass wood leaf. 4 1/2" tall and 5 1/2" long and 5 1/2" wide. $95.00
Plate Feathers are golden pheasant and chicken. 10 1/2" across. $95.00
	Candle Holder 5 1/4" by 17" around. $65.00
The Spirit Keeper The bird represents a Raven. The Raven is concendered a spirit keeper. Its mouth holds a turquiose Turtle representing mother earth. 7" tall by 12" around. $280.00
	Vase The bottom has sweet grass stitched onto it with sinew flaring up like a fan. The feathers are ring neck pheasant. 7" tall by 17" around. $125.00
Maple Leaf 8" across. $55.00
	Vase 4 strand sweet grass braid wrapped around the neck. Deer leather. Red Burbon turkey feather and Rhode island red chicken grass beads. 9" tall by 19" around. $125.00
Vase Sweet grass and bard rock feathers, garnet and black fresh water pearls. 9" tall by 19" around. $125.00
	Abstract Vessel 4" tall by 6 wide $55.00
Vase 6" tall by 15" around. $65.00
	Vase Seet grass fanned up from bottom. Feathers ringneck pheasant. 6 1/2 tall by 12" around. $150.00
Small Urn 8" tall by 22" around. $150.00
	Bowl 4" tall by 26" around. $125.00
Tera Sig Bowl 4" tall by 8" across $75.00