Decorating the Rim on an Oval Casserole

Oval casseroles are nice because we can do so much with them.  You can use them for cooking foods like gratins, casseroles, or cobblers.  They also make wonderful serving dishes salads or breads.  As an artist they are fun to make because you can play with the curves and handle placement and other elements of design and decoration.  The funny thing is that I don't make very many of them and when I do I normally only make one at a time rather than multiples like when I'm making something like mugs.  I'm not sure why.

The latest one I made with a little extra clay at the rim which I then split after completing all my pulls and cleaning.  I let it sit for just a few minutes so it was still pretty wet when I pushed the outer rim into the inner rim in spaces all around the rim.

Pinching with a Rib

You'll notice that the edge of the rib is covered with my chamois.  I do this to make that indentation a little softer.  I find it more ascetically pleasing and I don't get as much cracking.

The Pinched Rim

I let the ring set up for a few hours then wired it off the bat and stretched it into an oval.  I let that sit overnight under some plastic so it would get dry, but not too dry, just leather hard.

The next day I rolled out a slab and let that dry for a bit, I wanted it to be the same dampness as the clay.  Once they were close enough I cut the slab into an oval using the ring as a guide.  Then I did a lot of slipping and scoring so the ring would attach well to the slab, I also go around the inside seam with a coil.  This adds strength and makes a nice smooth transition.  A little paddling and rolling on the bottom also helps to make a nice, firm attachment.

Oval Casserole with Decorative Rim

The last step is to attach the handles.  After I put these on I started thinking about how it might look if I attached them to the ends at an offset.  What do you think?

Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff