Gooseneck Pottery
The Gooseneck kiln is one of the largest wood-fired kilns in Australia, measuring 14 metres in length and 3 metres in height and width. It is fired over a four or five day period twice a year. Pots made include jugs, teapots, mugs, bowls, baking dishes, casserole dishes, and larger items such as platters, breadcrocks and jars. Also produced is a wide range of planters, from small herb pots to big tubs.
Firing the kiln
During the firing it’s all hands on deck, and potter Robert Barron and his helpers work round the clock. Robert explained that there is six months work, or hundreds of hand-thrown pieces in the kiln, and even though the team members are practically asleep on their feet by the time the firing is finished, they can’t afford to leave the kiln for long. After the firing, the kiln is left to cool for five days or so, and then it is opened. There is great excitement as the pieces are removed from the wood ash and cleaned, and fabulous variations in colour, texture and glazes are revealed.
Tutankhamen’s tomb
Don felt a bit like Howard Carter, the archaeologist who excavated Tutankhamen’s tomb,when he visited Robert and helped him unseal the kiln!
They started with the top layer of bricks and found all the pieces intact, and without cracks. Glaze from the roof of the kiln had dripped down on some of the pots, leaving an effect which is known in the trade as ‘the potter’s tear’. Next they emptied the first of the large chambers in the kiln, just behind the main firebox. Robert places a lot of pots in arches low down in the wall in this area. They are covered in wood ash and glazed as the flames lick around them. Finally Robert removed items from the front firebox of the kiln. These pieces are completely buried in ember and gradually cooled, which adds beautiful dark effects and textures to the glaze.
Robert Barron
Robert began potting full time twenty-five years ago. He travelled the world to meet and study the techniques of woodfiring potters, and was particularly influenced by Michael Cardew of Wenford Bridge Pottery in Cornwall in England, and the Cornwall Bridge Pottery in America. Over the last twenty years he has won many awards, and his pottery is exhibited in galleries and collections in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Further information
Pots cost from $4 to $1,400. They are available from:
VIC
Gooseneck Pottery
RMB 2108 Kardella Road
Kardella, 3951 (via Korumburra)
Phone: (03) 5655 2405
Open 11am to 4pm on weekends, public holidays and most weekdays (phone first through the week). Visitors are welcome to inspect the kiln and studio. The pottery is about 11/2 hours from Melbourne.
Exhibition at:
Cloudehill Gardens and Nursery
89 Olinda-Monbulk Road (cnr Woolrich)
Olinda (Mel Ref: 122-A9)
Phone: (03) 9751 1009
From Saturday October 7 (opening 12 midday) to November 7.
NSW
Domestic Pots
252 Bronte Road
Waverley, 2024.
Director Kati Watson.
Phone: (02) 9386 4099
Mob: 0418 938 640
Open 11am-3pm Wednesday to Saturday, or by appointment.
ACT
Beaver Galleries
81 Denison Street
Deakin, 2600
Phone: (02) 6282 5294
Open 7 days, 10am-5pm