Ephraim Faience Pottery: Seconds & Irregulars at Discounted Prices

Discounted Pottery

Not every piece of pottery comes out perfect and Ephraim Pottery’s standards are exacting. Pieces that have minor flaws are offered at a discount. We prefer to offer most of these pieces in our Gallery so that buyers can see the piece in person before making a decision. Barbara, our gallery manager, keeps a file of customer preferences and tries to contact them when a piece they’ve indicated an interest in becomes available. If time allows, she may occasionally photograph a piece in the studio to email to interested collectors. Feel free to call Barbara at 920-648-3534 during gallery hours or email her anytime at gallery@ephraimpottery.com. Please realize that during open hours Barbara’s main priority is assisting visitors to the Gallery; therefore, you may have to leave her a message. She will reply as soon as she is able.

A limited number of seconds and irregulars are also offered to remote buyers through our Gallery Games program.

Seconds are marked with an X on the bottom and are priced at 50% off. Second-quality pieces have some sort of defect. The most common defects are chips and cracks. Cracks most commonly occur on the foot (outside bottom) or the inside bottom. Sometimes they can radiate from the foot up the side of the piece. Click on the link to see photos and descriptions of some common types of defects.
Irregulars vary in form, decoration or glazing from the examples pictured in our catalog and on our website. Irregularities of form and decoration occur during the throwing and decorating processes. There are many types of glazing and firing irregularities including blowouts, glaze bubbles, pinholes, crawling, thin spots and over-firing. The foot of all irregulars is marked with an incised I in addition to our regular studio and potter’s marks. Click on the link to see photos and descriptions of some common types of irregularities.

Seconds: Common Types of Defects
Bottom Crack	Chip	Hairline Crack
Click to view larger	Click to view larger	Small Hairline Click to view larger	Longer Hairline Click to view larger
A bottom crack usually originates in the center of the exterior bottom of the pot and spreads outward towards the foot (edge). It is wider than a hairline crack. Bottom cracks usually do not extend into the foot. They may or may not extend through the bottom to the interior of the pot, where they may or may not be visible. When the piece is sitting normally on its base this defect is not apparent to the viewer.	A chip is a divot out of the pot. It most commonly occurs on the foot, as in the example above, or on the bottom during the grinding process. In most cases, foot or bottom chips are not visible when the piece is sitting normally on its base. When glazed ware is chipped, the white fired clay underneath is revealed. Sometimes chips occur to green ware, in which case they are glazed over.	A hairline crack is a thin, fine crack similar in thickness to a human hair. Most of the hairline cracks on our pots originate on the foot. They may spread up the side and/or onto the bottom of the pot. Hairline cracks that spread up the side may or may not be visible to the average viewer. This often depends on the glaze and/or the length of the crack. Hairline cracks that extend to the bottom of the pot generally do not go all the way through to the inside and are not visible on the interior bottom.

Irregulars: Common Types of Irregularities
Blowout	Burst Glaze Bubble	Interior Glaze Bubbles	Overfired	Thin Glaze

A blowout happens when a small piece of the clay mixture explodes in the kiln, blowing off a small piece of clay and glaze.	During firing, air bubbles form in the glaze, but they usually "heal" themselves during the rest of the firing. The arrow on the right shows an example of this. (A healed bubble is not considered an irregularity.) However, sometimes the burst air bubble doesn't heal. The arrow at the left shows this example.	Due to the thickness of the glaze, it is not unusual for bubbles to form on the interior bottom of our pots.	Overfiring refers to the situation when the temperature inside the kiln gets too hot or stays at a high temperature for too long of a time. This results in a darkening of the glaze color, formation of larger and more highly visible crystals, and a thinning of the glaze over some sculpted areas.	Sometimes the glaze runs more than usual or doesn't adhere as well to the surface of the bisqued pot, resulting in lighter-colored areas. The bisqued surface of the piece is visible through the glaze, but the lighter area is not white, which would indicate a glaze miss.