Gone Squirrely!

When does a person’s sensibilities enter their bodies? Maybe my first interest in handles was passed down to me by my Aunt Cavvy.  A friend of mine Ely the Stripper (well she strips wallpaper) gifted these bowls to me.  Such a

thoughtful gift. Thank you, Ely. They are my Aunt Cavvy’s squared squirrel bowls. She called them squirrel bowls because of the handle. My aunt made all the handles in the pottery. It was her thing and she was proud of how comfy her coffee cups were and how you could put your whole hand into the handle. I never followed that tradition.

Atsuko Neely bought some of my aunts coffee cups in a Thrift Store in Logan, Utah. The cups had followed the Mormon Trail from Aylmer, Ontario to Utah. Being that they were Latter Day Saints they were probably taken back to Utah by a visiting missionary. Actually Utah potter Joe Benion did his mission here at their church.

It was also a tradition at Pinecroft to sign Pinecroft, Aylmer, Canada, handmade. I swear it takes as long to sign the pot and sand off the rough edges than it does to throw the pot. This is another Pinecroft tradition I never followed.

On the ware above a pound in weight they wrote the weight along with the signature. They charged by the pound. So a two pound bowl was worth X and a 3 pound bowl was worth Y.

I think it is as true today as yesterday that the bigger the pot the bigger the bargain. The more casualties, the skill, the kiln space, the glazing all amounts to more effort than you could get for a kiln shelf of smaller pots. Why do it then? Squirrelly, I guess