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Pottery Preferences?


Milah

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Hello! Extreme newbie here, and not exactly a member of the dollhouse community (yet?!). I have a question for you, however! If I should move this post elsewhere or anything like that please let me know.

My passion is creating mini ceramics, often with somewhat intricate designs. I especially like Maya, Southwest American Indian, and geometric ornamental designs. My family insists that I should create pottery for the dollhouse community and I figured I'll give it a try. I'm going to start attending craft fairs and maybe selling on Etsy and would love to get your opinions on what styles of ceramics appeal to you.

The issue I think I'm going to come across is making them small enough while still retaining the type of intricate designs I like. Right now, for instance, my plates average 2 inches across, far to big for dollhouse use. Right? Or are there some cases where this would be an okay size? Looking around other sites like Etsy it seems they max at 1 inch.

I don't have a pottery wheel or kiln so I can't yet make the nifty jugs and such. Shaping them by hand is too difficult. Mine are made from air dry clay or polymer clay, depending on what I'm making. Would this make a difference to you, as long as the result is still pottery-esque?

Styles! What styles are you personally interested in? Victorian floral? Chinese porcelain? Plain Raku ware-like? Other? Please give me your opinions, because I want to know what kinds of things would be the best to make!

Forms! Which are most desired? Plates, bowls, other crockery? Would you want them individually or only in sets?

Anything else you can think of to help me in this direction?

I'll link to an image of my latest batch, quite an eclectic mix. Like I said, far too large for dollhouses so I'll have to miniaturize further. I'll also include a couple images that have been photographed more professionally, so you can get an idea of my style.

Pottery Examples

Moroccan Bowl

Native American Style Vase

Maya Vessel

 

Thank you!

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Kelly, you can take a little time to mosey around the forums and perhaps post a regular introduction in the Newcomers' Forum.  One of the issues I see with 1:12 scale ceramics is thickness, which is probably why polystyrene and paper work much better in scale.  !:24 ceramics would be a bigger bear to reproduce, I'd think.  If you can achieve the same proportion of thinness to small size that your current pottery possesses, I think you'll have it nailed.  You might want to consider having a store on Etsy and taking orders,, once you get the scale thing worked out.  1:12 scale means that a 1:1 people sized plate 9" in diameter would only be 3/4" in diameter or a dollhouse person.

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Holly, thanks! Yes, I'll go introduce myself, I'll be hanging out here to get advice and inspiration, for sure. Hm, yes, I have found thickness to be an issue for the smaller ones. I think I can work on that, at least for some forms. Thanks again!

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You're welcome.  You have a distinct talent and I'm sure once you get the size thing worked out folks will find some of your pieces perfect.  I'm curious how you achieve raku in polymer clay...

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Getting those subtle color shifts and depth of glazes in mini with metallic paints would be worth seeing.  An upper classman in one of my art classes made really interesting faceted pottery that I sometimes think would be fun to try to simulate in mini.  Betcha polymer clay would work a charm for that.

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I'm truly a sucker for American Art pottery (arts & crafts style), particularly Roseville, Rookwood, Weller, and Newcomb styles. Wish there was someone who did those in miniature! Some beautiful examples can be seen on this sale website: www.justartpottery.com Sometimes I go there just to drool....

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Kelly your Moroccan bowl is beautiful! :)

Some of your 2 inch items could be used in dollhouse scale for instance low rimmed bowls could be used as display bowls for coffee tables or pots could be used as floor standing planters for floral arrangements or indoor plants. Also they would probably be valued by the 1:6 community.

I hope you do manage to scale down to 1:12 though. :D

 

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8 hours ago, blueirishmoon said:

I'm truly a sucker for American Art pottery (arts & crafts style), particularly Roseville, Rookwood, Weller, and Newcomb styles. Wish there was someone who did those in miniature! Some beautiful examples can be seen on this sale website: www.justartpottery.com Sometimes I go there just to drool....

Cynthia, I really like your suggestions, especially the forms of the Rookwood. And adding dimensional motifs is something I have been wanting to try as well. If I ever make any in a similar vein I'll be sure to post them for feedback! Thanks!

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2 hours ago, Samusa said:

Kelly your Moroccan bowl is beautiful! :)

Some of your 2 inch items could be used in dollhouse scale for instance low rimmed bowls could be used as display bowls for coffee tables or pots could be used as floor standing planters for floral arrangements or indoor plants. Also they would probably be valued by the 1:6 community.

I hope you do manage to scale down to 1:12 though. :D

 

Thank you. THAT will be hard to scale down, I know. Maybe a much simplified version... Good to hear the larger ones might be wanted somewhere, even as I try the 1:12 sizes.

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The key is a lot of detail at a smaller scale. So your moroccan bowl smaller but without losing detail. There are some amazingly detailed tiny pieces of porcelain and pottery on Etsy --check out the competition!

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12 hours ago, Elsbeth said:

The key is a lot of detail at a smaller scale. So your moroccan bowl smaller but without losing detail. There are some amazingly detailed tiny pieces of porcelain and pottery on Etsy --check out the competition!

Yep, I'm getting good ideas for popular styles and sizes from Etsy. Gotta make sure mine are unique, of course! Sets seem to be the thing. Tea sets and other kitchen ware.

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I've been looking for 1:12 chinoiserie ginger jars forever. And I agree with Sable Napoleon Bees and Fleur-de-lis are always good. I like your Morrocan stuff too and any blue and white modern designs.

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27 minutes ago, Samusa said:

I've been looking for 1:12 chinoiserie ginger jars forever. And I agree with Sable Napoleon Bees and Fleur-de-lis are always good. I like your Morrocan stuff too and any blue and white modern designs.

I love ginger jars too. Years ago I got several I really liked from DollHouse Emporium - blue and white but also florals. 

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You might do a search to see what's currently selling in the dollhouse universe. Google Jane Graber for starters and Craig Roberts: the Hairy Potter. Janes pottery in particular is highly in demand. I personally love anything with a Christmas related motif...and vases and crocks that can hold flowers.  Miniature pottery is often used by people who make flower arrangements, as a vessel to hold the flowers. Try an eBay search for dollhouse miniature flower arrangement artisan made to see examples.  

Just a thought, but I think what makes Janes or any other artists pottery valuable is the fact that a typical collector or buyer can't produce it themselves because not many people are going to buy a kiln and learn the process. Polymer clay, air dry clay etc is not out of reach for most people and relatively easy to use. So I don't think faux pottery made from polymer clay would ever reach the same price point or demand as authentic pottery. 

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7 hours ago, WyckedWood said:

You might do a search to see what's currently selling in the dollhouse universe. Google Jane Graber for starters and Craig Roberts: the Hairy Potter. Janes pottery in particular is highly in demand. I personally love anything with a Christmas related motif...and vases and crocks that can hold flowers.  Miniature pottery is often used by people who make flower arrangements, as a vessel to hold the flowers. Try an eBay search for dollhouse miniature flower arrangement artisan made to see examples.  

Just a thought, but I think what makes Janes or any other artists pottery valuable is the fact that a typical collector or buyer can't produce it themselves because not many people are going to buy a kiln and learn the process. Polymer clay, air dry clay etc is not out of reach for most people and relatively easy to use. So I don't think faux pottery made from polymer clay would ever reach the same price point or demand as authentic pottery. 

I've visited a few of those sites, but I hadn't seen the Jane Graber works! My goodness! What skill that takes! Yes, I can see why she would have such a high price. I wouldn't ever be able to touch that with what I'm making, but if I ever move somewhere or can get studio space I hope to specialize like that. Wow. Thanks for the names.

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18 hours ago, Samusa said:

I've been looking for 1:12 chinoiserie ginger jars forever. And I agree with Sable Napoleon Bees and Fleur-de-lis are always good. I like your Morrocan stuff too and any blue and white modern designs.

This is all good, I like these designs. And blue and white is one of my favored combos. Thanks!

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21 hours ago, Sable said:

I'm always looking for large plates to place in the display shelves and over the mantel of my Stone House fireplace. I will take a closer look at your current inventory.

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=101111&browse=1

Good to know. Yes, I can see how that would be good for larger plates.

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21 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Actually it's things like mixing bowls and soup tureens and red clay bakers and frijole pots that I don't see much in mini.

 

I had no idea there was such a thing as frijole pots. The more you know.

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