Throwing Handled Serving Platters on Electric Wheels

Handled serving platters are perfect for salads, fruits, and serving steaming vegetable and meat dishes. When they are made with ovenproof clay bodies (which can withstand the rapid expansion and contraction of kitchen heating and cooling), serving platters can be used as baking dishes. Although they are quite easy to throw on electric wheels, in fact the design has to be well-considered and well-constructed to survive drying, firing, as well as years of use. Because of their large size, serving platters become a focal point of interest on the dining table. The character of the design must be addressed from the beginning, and followed through to its finished details. The handles must both be functional and also contribute visual interest to the platter.

About 10 pounds of clay should be centered on the wheel on an 18" bat and opened up to leave a half-inch thick base in the center. Those not accustomed to throwing such large clay pieces should use clay which is somewhat softer than normal, and the potters wheel parts should be slowed down slightly as the clay is centered. The hands are overlapped: the upper hand reinforces the fingers which contact the clay as the center hole is widened. The clay is pulled or pushed until the platter base is about 17" in diameter. The clay is smoothed out evenly with the palm of the hand, to condense and strengthen the base. A rubber kidney is used to finish compressing the bottom of the platter, smoothing out the lines and rounding the base where it meets the wall.

Beginning from the join where the base and wall meet, the wall is thinned and pulled up halfway. This leaves sufficient clay at the top for the shaping of a distinctive rim. Supporting the outside of the rim with the fingers, the thumbs press down on the top of the clay to form the rim. When the rim looks right, the half-thrown wall is pulled up to its full height. The finished base thickness of the platter should be at least a quarter inch at the sides and somewhat thicker in the middle. This is because the cutting wire will lift slightly at the center of the piece; and making a thicker center allows for this. An hour or so after throwing the excess clay is trimmed away from the outside edge with a knife tool; a fetting knife is then used to undercut the platter about half an inch from its edge to make it easier to slide the cutting wire underneath. The platter is cut from the bat an hour after it has been thrown, keeping the wire pressed down on the bat as it is run underneath the base.

When the platter is leather-hard, it is centered upside-down on the wheel and a Surform tool is used to trim and flatten the sides and bottom of the platter; then they are smoothed with a steel kidney. The bottom edge is beveled to give a visually arresting shadow outline to the finished platter. Handles can be thrown, or made with drape molds, and they are cut to length when leather-hard and pressed onto the platter edges with slip. The cut edges and join are smoothed with a damp scouring pad and sponge. Glaze and fire at will.

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