Ceramics in the collection

Carol Watkins (1950-)

Saggar fired Vase, 2020

Carol Watkins is a specialist in alternative firings: Raku, Naked Raku and Saggar. She is excited by the unpredictability of working with atmospheric effects, playing with oxides and making her own glazes. Experimentation is the name of the game. The saggar container can be a clay container, a cardboard box wrapped in clay, a tin or aluminium foil and the piece is surrounded by combustibles and other items such as sticks, timber, sawdust – any number of items. The combustibles eventually catch fire and the process starts with the heat being turned off between 700 and 800 degrees. The pots are generally burnished and as there is no glaze, the outsides are usually smooth and matt