The Glaze Archive

Edgecomb Pottery / Maine Pottery Company — 1976 to present.

Throughout the different seasons of the year I have the opportunity to have fun and restart a conversation with clay. I love the porcelain - so smooth, white, and fussy. I often think of the porcelain clay as a queen who does not like to be mistreated. The dialogue is an intimate place where I can pour out concerns, challenges, and joy. It is a dance of mis-steps, discovery, and celebration. If blessings can be passed through the process, I pray it touches each home it is given.

— Chris Hilton, co-founder

Half a century of fire, weather, and porcelain lives on this page. Every glaze Maine Pottery Co. has ever made - the ones we still pull out of the kiln each week, and the ones we let go years ago - is here. Richard spent his life chasing color, and I spent mine keeping a conversation going with the clay. What you find below is the family album: the recipes, the stories, and a little of the weather we were living through when each one showed up. We fire on a pure white porcelain body at cone 10 - around 2,350 degrees - and no two pieces ever come out the same.

Crystalline

Acadia

A deep evergreen that carries the park it was named for. Brad brought this one into the world as studio manager, working from old recipes and new ones until we landed on something rare: a layered, crystal-free green that feels like wet pine after fog. Quiet, dense, and one of the most complete greens we have ever fired.

Acadia glazed vase
Acadia glazed leaf-shaped platter
Acadia glazed vase
Crystalline

Amber

Richard worked tirelessly for the right amber. It took him many months - a yellow that will not swing into brown or green, a color that holds like sunlight through a clear blue sky. In 2004 the sun finally beamed down and graced us with it. He had a vision of what it should look like and he never gave up till it was right.

Specialty

Artist's Proof

"Artist's Proof" is what we call a test run that earned its keep. When we are trying a new glaze, a new form, or a new chemistry combination, most of those pieces stay in the studio - but every now and then one comes out of the kiln good enough to send out into the world. We mark those Artist's Proof so you know exactly what you are holding: a one-off from the bench, not a repeatable production piece.

Crystalline

Bahama Blue

A clear, tropical mid-blue - one of the older blues on our bench. The crystals scatter across the surface like reef fish flickering through warm water.

Crystalline

Coral Reef

Warm coral broken up with creamy crystal blooms - sunlight scattered across shallow water. We only pull it in short runs, a kiln or two at a time.

Crystalline

Denim

The color of a favorite work shirt washed a hundred times. Honest and calm, with lighter crystal threads running through it. It looks at home in a kitchen that gets used.

Crystalline

Emerald and Ivory

Two glazes laid over each other - a deep emerald pool spreading across an ivory ground. The long cool-down pulls the crystals forward like leaves on new snow.

Crystalline

Honey Green

Green is a sign of rebirth, of new beginnings. Though it is a cool color, it brings us warmth as we wrap our hands around it. After a hard Maine winter comes the mud, and along with the mud comes the green of life. Catch it in the right light and you will see a golden honey that glistens.

Crystalline

Ivory Gold

A royal glaze with a gold splash breaking over a white ground. Look closely and you will see the colors blend and bleed into one another. A dark pool often appears - like lightning breaking into the sky, a time to reflect on the wonder and awe that surrounds us.

Crystalline

Marina

The blue of a working harbor at slack tide - not too bright, not too dark, with crystals scattered over the surface like sunlight bouncing off the water. A calm blue that still feels like it has a job to do.

Crystalline

Midnight Beach

The deep navy of the shoreline after the last fire goes out. The crystals surface through the dark like stars over the water.

Crystalline

Morning Mist

The pale, silver-blue of fog burning off the Sheepscot at dawn. Subtle and quiet. The crystals are barely there until you turn the piece in your hand and catch the light at the right angle.

Crystalline

Mother of Pearl

A quiet one. The crystal does the work here - faint shadows, soft texture, a surface you almost have to slow down to see. Hold the piece close and let the glaze show you what it is doing.

Crystalline

November Night

This glaze was dedicated to the times of hardship we endure. It was an unusual warm October night when the sky pulled me over on my drive home from the studio - layered clouds moving over the moon. Not long after, Richard was passing from this world. Cloudy days bring change, and this one carries the hope of the day when we will hug each other again.

Specialty

Red with Metal

The ultimate expression of Richard's decades of copper work. Our classic copper red, dressed up with metallic flecks that catch the kiln in places we cannot predict. Jewel-like, one of a kind, and so different from one another that collectors often pick by temperament - some only want the purplish tones, others the peacock patterns, a rare few the ones with giant polka-dots of missing glaze. See also the Copper Red explainer below.

Crystalline

Saltmeadow

The soft green of the salt marshes between Edgecomb and Wiscasset in late summer. A working color - the kind of green you see out the truck window on the drive home.

Crystalline

Sapphire and Gold

A jewel-tone blue with gold crystal blooms shot through it. Two glazes laid over each other and given the full 22-hour cool-down so the crystals have room to open up. One of the showier ones in the cabinet.

Crystalline

Seabreeze

The light, clean turquoise you only see on a calm day off the Maine coast. One of our best-loved blues - it runs across nearly every form we make, and has for decades.

Crystalline

Seaglass

Inspired by the glittering blues, corals, greens, and polished turquoise that line our shores. Seaglass captures the essence and vibrancy of coastal Maine. It has taken our artisans and master potters over four decades to perfect.

Crystalline

Shoreline

The grey-green of the beach grass that holds a dune in place. Simple, durable, a little wild around the edges.

Crystalline

Spring

The first true green that comes through the brown of mud season. A little louder than Honey Green, a little fresher than Saltmeadow. The kind of color that reminds you winter is over whether you believe it yet or not.

Crystalline

Tide Pool

A soft, layered blue-green that shifts as you turn the piece - like looking down into a real one between the rocks. The crystals do most of the talking here; the ground just gives them somewhere to live.

Crystalline

Tropical Paradise

A vivid jewel-tone teal with bright white crystals - the closest thing in our catalog to clear water over a sand bar. One of the loud ones. It does not apologize for itself.

Crystalline

Winter Storm

A window covered with crystals. A time to be quieter and breathe in the moment. Maine has given us many occasions to reflect and be still, and this glaze carries the contrast of it - white and black, day and night, a passionate stillness.

01

CRYSTALLINE

Crystalline

Crystalline is the signature thing we do. We start on a pure white porcelain body - fussy to throw, but the only canvas that lets these crystals show. The kiln climbs to cone 10, around 2,350 degrees, until the glaze is fully molten. Then the slow part begins: a 22-hour controlled cool-down where the kiln steps down on a precise program, and the zinc and silica in the glaze have time to grow into the snowflake patterns you see on the surface.

That is our Macro crystalline - the big, intense formations that catch the light and conjure summer gardens, ocean waves, or an Arctic freeze. We also fire a Micro variant on a 12 to 14-hour cycle, which leaves smaller, more traditional crystal patterns - a Maine starlit night, the view from an icy window after a storm. The kiln is the last artist on every piece; no two come out the same.

02

GAS-FIRED

Gas-fired

Our gas-kiln glazes go a different direction. Same white porcelain, same cone 10 fire - but no controlled cool-down and no crystals. The glaze develops its color in the heat of the flame and the atmosphere of the kiln itself, and then the kiln cools the way it wants to.

What comes out is depth and smoothness you cannot get any other way: the soft jade of a Celadon, the 17th-century weight of a Kyoto Forest, the quiet brood of a Midnight Blue. The fire does a lot of the work. We do our best to stay out of its way.

03

COPPER RED - THE HARDEST ONE

Copper Red - the hardest one

Copper red is where Richard began his career as a glaze chemist, and in many ways it is where he stayed. It is the hardest glaze we make. Red wants to become pink or purple depending on the weather, the humidity, the draw, the reduction, the specific kiln. Brilliant reds need a seasoned kiln, and Richard built the Red Kiln we still fire today - fifteen years in, it is still producing pieces that surprise us.

We sometimes hold two shelves just for copper reds, because the fire blesses the piece in that one spot. Red with Metal is the ultimate expression of it - decades of trials condensed into a single jewel-like finish, where no two pieces are ever alike.

We try to let the fire impart its spirit into the clay. It's more exciting when we don't control everything. During unusual weather conditions, delayed firing has created effects I cannot duplicate. These specially touched pieces are a source of great inspiration or supreme humility, for which I am forever grateful.

— Richard Hilton

Apple Green

A bright, almost edible green from an early run of zinc-heavy crystal recipes. One of the first loud greens we pulled out of the kiln. Retired.

Arctic Ice

In the cold of a Maine winter, one experiences wonder, challenges, and mystery. Reflecting the hardness of a long winter storm, our porcelain holds the sturdy refinement of a 22-hour firing cycle. A cool tone through the glaze carries the chill. Retired.

Beachcomber

A warm tan and grey - the color of driftwood and dry rope baked in late-summer sun. Retired.

Celadon

A nod to the centuries-old Chinese green that started it all for so many potters. Pale, soft, a little jade. The kind of glaze that disappears into a bookshelf and reappears when the afternoon light moves across the room. Retired from regular production - small batches still surface now and then.

Frost

Almost-white with the faintest blue cast and very fine crystals - first frost on a windshield, before you have had coffee. Retired.

Harbor Mist

A foggy slate grey-blue, pulled from the look of a working harbor at dawn. Retired.

Key Lime

Bright, citrusy, a little playful. The crystals spread across the surface like sugar on the top of a slice of pie. One of the cheerful ones - hard not to smile when it comes out of the kiln. Out of regular rotation now, though a small batch surfaces here and there.

Kyoto Forest

Kyoto Forest speaks of function - an Oriental landscape laid over the rocky Maine coast. Richard developed it after a 17th-century Chinese glaze and spent years getting it right. We were honored when trade representatives from Taiwan chose a Kyoto Forest piece to present to their president, telling us, "we have not seen a glaze like it." No longer in regular production; an occasional small batch still finds its way out of the kiln.

Mauve

A soft, dusty purple - one of the few we ever made in this color family. Retired.

Midnight Blue

A true, deep blue - gas-fired, no crystals. Smooth and brooding. It works best on simple forms, the kind of piece where the color does the talking and nothing else has to. Off the regular production schedule; a small batch surfaces every so often.

PS Blue

A clean mid-blue from the studio's middle years. The name was an in-house shorthand we have since lost the origin of. Retired.

Rabbit's Fur

A warm brown with fine streaking that reads like fur in the right light - a nod to the classic Song-dynasty "hare's fur" tea bowls. Retired.

Rachel's Teal

A vivid sea-glass teal that holds its color in any light. Named for Rachel, our studio manager, who has handled the glazing, spraying, pouring, and firing here for years. She is the reason a lot of what we make makes it out of the kiln. No longer in regular rotation, though the occasional small batch still surfaces.

Red Lip

A small-batch red where the rim of the piece flashes a deeper, lipstick crimson. Hard to predict, hard to repeat - which is part of the reason we kept making it. Out of regular production now; an occasional small batch still surfaces.

Red Moon

A deep, oxblood version of our copper red. It came out of a single kiln spot that produced it consistently for a few years - and when that kiln was rebuilt, Red Moon went with it. Retired.

Red with Copper

A close cousin of Red with Metal. The metallic flecks here read warmer, more brick than rust. Retired.

Rose

A soft pink that always sold quickly and never stuck around. We made it in small runs and it was always gone by the time we thought to set one aside. Retired.

Schoolhouse Red

The red of the 1878 schoolhouse on Route 27 - the building Richard and I bought in January 1978 and the reason any of this exists. Retired.

Sea and Sky

As the sea meets the sky, the coast of Maine prominently inspires the colors and rugged function of each porcelain piece in the Sea and Sky collection. The ocean drives upon the land and the horizon fades in and out with the rhythm of the day. Like our porcelain, it is strong and ready for every day encounters in our homes and in our inspirations. Originally introduced as a full collection. Retired.

SMD

An in-house name from the studio's middle years. Retired.

Splash

A bright aqua with bold crystal bursts that read like a splash of water frozen mid-air. A loud one. Retired.

Sunburst

A warm gold with crystals that radiate outward like a flare across the surface of the piece. It catches morning light and runs with it. Off the regular schedule now; small batches still surface from time to time.

Teal Tile

A deep, even teal with the smooth flatness of a glazed tile - gas-fired, no crystals. Retired.

Watermelon Tourmaline

Watermelon tourmaline is the term for the unique tourmaline crystals found in Maine - gemstones with a green outer skin and shades of pink inside. A single crystal can show three or four different colors, born from subtle changes in chemistry as it formed. Our Watermelon Tourmaline glaze begins with the same idea: a unique formula, a long firing, and porcelain pieces that come out durable and noted for their many shades of pink and green with halos of different hues surrounding each crystal. Tourmaline was the first gemstone ever mined in Maine. Take home a piece of Maine. No longer in regular production; an occasional small batch still surfaces.

Richard's philosophy

We at Edgecomb Potters are attracted to glazes that allow the fire to impart its spirit in each piece.

Our attempt is to create work that reflects the natural beauty surrounding us here in coastal Maine.

Our hope is that through daily use of our pottery, the unusual glaze effects will remind one

of a frozen brook

an autumn leaf

the color of a new spring flower

or a crimson sunset.

In this may the user reflect on the mystery and wonder of our own lives.

— Richard Hilton