Smithsonian Contributions - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

74
Figure 30. Pouring glaze through the center of the runner. (From the film, The
Meaders Family: North Georgia Potters.)
turn. It took a strong man to turn it. And if a small, weak man could
stay on it long enough, it'd make a man out of him. . .or kill him,
one" (fig. 31).
After a few "man-killing" turns of the handle, a steady stream of
glaze began to flow out along a channel, or "trench," in the bottom
stone, down an improvised clay spout, and into a waiting churn or
pitcher. Lanier took this processed solution and recycled it through
the mill, as it took two or three grindings to reach a consistency that
was neither too thin nor too thick to properly coat the ware.
In applying the glaze solution, Cheever commonly employed a
deep wooden glazing box, although he had accepted Lanier's
substitution of a galvanized metal laundry tub for the same purpose in
1967. First, stirring the mixture to dissolve as much of the sediment as
he could, he dipped and rolled his ware in the tub, taking care to
cover all surfaces evenly inside and out (fig. 32). Afterwards, each
piece was set on a plank to dry and extra solution dripped on to cover
up fingerprints and other imperfections. Care was taken at this stage