Hippottery Studio

How a Ceramics Master Creates One of a Kind Plates for Restaurants | Eater

"An Oakland-based ceramicist treats restaurants as live galleries and operates a high-touch, collaborative business model that both inspires chefs and is inspired by them. Her process starts with precise clay weights — for example, 2 lbs. 12 oz. for a drop-rim pillow plate made for a San Francisco restaurant — and accounts for predictable shrinkage so pieces form a cohesive collection. She wedges the clay to remove air, centers and sculpts it on the wheel as the wet material slowly dries and contracts, then measures and intentionally rounds dimensions (e.g., down to nine inches) to allow slight variation. Plates dry on wooden boards, are trimmed and stamped with a signature spiral and logo, slow-dried to prevent cracking, bisque-fired, wet-sanded to remove particles, and finally hand-glazed so each dish bears hundreds of fingerprints under the glaze and unique painted differences. She views these handmade plates as extensions of the dining experience, where subtle, crafted touches enhance the final meal." - Avery Dalal