Throwing an Inset Flange Covered Jar

I'd like to talk about cover jars and my favorite cover jar, the inset flange cover jar. Back in the 1800s, 1900s, they used these and Sears catalog actually sold them with an ad. And that ad said it was a roach proof lid. It's a very good storage jar in that it seals really well. The idea is the flange is on the lid and fits tightly into the jar. So here's another one. This gives you an opportunity for decoration on the top or handles of all kinds. Usually, when the jar is small enough, and you can pick it up with one hand, you don't really need to have a handle. Once it starts getting wider and it's more difficult to pick up, the handle works well. Now the flange can be different heights. That depends on the function. If it doesn't have a particularly, isn't going to be moved around a lot, you can have quite a shallow flange. If it's for something like a teapot, or a jar that's going to be tipped, a longer flange, or you have a big sculptural element or a big handle on the top, that makes it top heavy, a deeper flange works well. Now, you want to have this area unglazed and this area unglazed. Take a look at the angle. This tapers down. The place that it fits is right there at the seam, at the corner, not up here. So it doesn't fit, doesn't fit, doesn't fit, and then finally locks into place. When you're measuring, always make the lid just a little bit bigger. Maybe a sixteenth of an inch, a little bit bigger, to adjust for shrinkage and errors in measurement, because you want that lid to fit well. That's a sign of a good potter, is a good fitting lid. When you measure, you can throw the jars first, or you could throw the lids first, and you can throw multiple lids, the jars, and then mix and match until you find one that works really well for you. So if you threw the jar first, you take your calipers, and you measure from the inside of the lid to the other edge of the inside of the lid. So that's how big it would be. A good thing to do is to actually take that measurement, so I have three and a half, and write it down, because what happens if you lose this lid? You can always make another if you've got that measurement. After it starts drying, after it's fired, it's shrunk, so it's very hard to get it so it'll fit well. What I often do when I'm doing a series, I'll do them all the same size. I'll do all the openings the same size and all the lids the same size. That way, I don't have to even think about it. So you take this measurement, and you could use a ruler. It's not quite as accurate as using calipers, but if you don't have calipers, you can use a ruler. And then you take your calipers and open them up to that measurement that you had. So, three and a half, and that's what you'll be measuring here, and you'll throw the lid to match this diameter. Let me throw one for you. Now, these can be any shape, size, that's up to you. It really depends on what you want to use it for. I just like covered forms because they tend to contain just beautiful forms and function. So think about the shape you want, whether it's going to be round or straight or who knows what. So basically, you're drawing a vase form. This top edge doesn't have to be thick. One more pull, water out of the inside, and find the form a little bit. Get rid of those throwing lines so I can decorate it later. I try to keep the top just wide enough to get my hand in, and then I can decide on how wide the opening will be. Now, if you're going to do anything to the lip, now's the time while it's a cylinder. You can support it, put your finger on the top. Push down. Now, something that I do with my cover jars is I make a separate little ledge that's slightly raised from the lip. And the reason I do that is this area can be glazed like that. So the only part that's unglazed is up here. Michael Fremkes was taught this by an Italian potter where he used two ribs, one on the outside, one on the inside, to form his pots. You don't need any water, and it makes it incredibly thin. I'm going to bring the top in just a little bit. Make sure you don't have any water left inside. Bring that in, keep that little flan raised up. This also angles down, if you notice. So when the lid fits on there, it will be floating. You won't see the unglazed area where it sits in the jar. I'm going to measure this inside space, and it's from lip to lip on the inside. Right about there. That's the size I want to make the lid. Trim the jar just a little bit. I'll have to come back later and do more trimming. A little bit of shadow there, and cut it off. Because I ribbed the slip off the outside, and the piece has been compressed from the inside, I can just pick this up. I'm just going to grab it with both hands, tilt it, and put it on the board. And now I'm going to make the lid. Now, what I'm going for is one that comes out, and I will not be able to see where the glaze, where the lid sits onto the jar. It's always a good idea not to have this kind of raised up. This is pretty flat, this one. It's always better to have it come up just a little bit here, so when it sits on there, it comes down a bit. And you throw this one upside down. Think about what you want the top to look like. Bring it out. So what you want to do is measure this at three inches, open this up, and that's how big I want my flange to be. It matches right there. I'm going to bring this out just a little bit more. Measure, open. Now, if it's a small span, you can have it absolutely flat. If it's anything past three, four inches, dome it, because if it's flat and you trim it thin, it's going to want to collapse on you. So I'm going to dome this a little bit by just raising my fingers as I open. Got my thick wall out there. Got the opening. And I'm finishing the inside. Measure. Got a little bit wide. Bring it in. Okay, that's just about right. So now what you do is take your finger and push down until you reach the level of the inside opening. And you can raise this wall up depending on what you're planning to put on the top. It could be shorter. It could be half that size. It could be taller if you're going to have something very tall on the top. And then measure again. I'm almost there. I'm going to take the rib. And this rib has a square corner. I'm going to put the square corner in there. Push in a little bit. And check it. Not quite. And just a little bit more. There. Perfect. Right down at that corner. That's where you want it to fit. Now I have a problem here. That flange is straight up and down. So if I just went ahead and made the jar, fired it, everything might be just fine. In the disc firing, I put the glaze on it. When it comes out of the glaze firing, the jar might have warped a little bit and the lid won't come out. So what you want to do is put your rib on there and taper it. So it looks a little like a cork. It angles in. Now you can finish off the lip. And a good way to bring that up is to put your finger on the wheel head and push it in. And then just pull the clay up against your outside finger. Chammy any sharp edges. Now one thing that I do, I like to leave as little unglazed clay as possible. Since this is a cork, it's going to fit right up in this area here. I'm going to put a little line. That's where I'm going to stop the glaze. I'll put another one right here. That's where I'm going to stop the glaze. And that way, it'll be very easy to wax. Notice how this is coming up. So when it goes on the jar, it'll go down and you won't see that top edge. Take this off. Dry off your wheel. You could slide it off, but you're going to touch that rim. So take the wire, dry it off. The wire's twisted, so it puts little pockets of air underneath. Cut it. This works on the idea that the form was drawn. It wants to be round. And as long as you don't surprise it, as long as you don't shock it, you can put it back to being round. So I'm going to fold it and then unfold it. This is an old European technique. Now, I've got a really thin rib. I can't get my fingers under it, but I can get this under it. So I'm going to slide this underneath, lift it up, and it folds. Get my left fingers underneath. I'm going to throw a little water under it. And then slide this hand in one movement to the other side and pick it up. Now, when I put it down, I have to put it down gently. Don't drop it because it'll keep the warp. Put it down gently and take your hand out in the reverse manner. I'm going to put it down over here. Take my hand out the same way I put it in. Take it out slowly and it goes back to being round. Now, when you're drying these, dry them together. As soon as you can, put the lid on the jar. And that way, they'll dry together. Now, if you made the lid just a little bit bigger than the opening, it doesn't fit, trim up here just a little bit. You can also use the jar as a chuck to trim the lid. I'll show that in another demonstration. Okay, thank you.