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surely have influenced the Meaderses' decision to abandon the experiment.
In any event, it has not been revived during the modern period.
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Bristol Glaze
Another commercial glaze material, Bristol Glaze, was introduced to
White County potters by die Brown family during the early 1920s. A
mixture of feldspar, whiting, and zinc oxide, it normally produced a
translucent white or gray finish upon firing. Cheever Meaders incorporated
Bristol Glaze around 1925 in his already growing inventory of
glazes. To match the material to the vitrification temperature of his
clay body, he sometimes had to add local pottery clay for a binder.
In 1935 or diereabout, Cheever produced a number of small vases
and pitchers in an obvious attempt to cater to a growing demand for
curio items. Surviving examples of these have a cobalt blue band
painted around dieir centers and are overglazed with a light green or
yellow finish— a mixture of Bristol Glaze and pulverized lime.
More recendy, Arie Meaders has used Bristol Glaze to coat some of
her art pottery. For her animals, for example, she first limned in die
details with zinc, chrome, or lime-oxide paints ordered from a supply
house in Draytonville, New York. She then glazed over these with the
patent finish.
Lead Glaze
Mosdy because of its toxic properties, lead glaze found little favor
wim the Meaderses. Cheever ordered some of the material through a
local paint store in 1937 or 1938, having read about it in a trade
journal. He discovered soon after, however, diat it was unsuitably
matched to his stoneware, puddling radier dian adhering to the clay
body. In later years, Cheever occasionally added white lead to a
number of his other glazes to lower their melting temperature. He
also found that red lead could be used for small decoration, although
it had to be mixed widi flint dust to prevent excess running. Neidier
practice continues at present in his son's work. 9
Spar Glaze
In an effort to substitute commercial for indigenous materials in die
preparation of a useful alkaline glaze, Cheever Meaders during the
1950s began to manufacture spar glaze. This finish combines prepulverized
feldspar, calcium carbonate "whiting," and Albany Slip and