Obvara Pottery
You may ask yourself, why did we put Obvara on a page by itself? Well it is a relatively unknown technique and we could not find a lot about it when we were searching to find out more about it. Since we decided our web page was designed to educate on old world techniques, we put it on by itself. It is growing in popularity, and to some being considered the 3rd movement of Raku, this one being called Baltic Raku form where it originated.
Obvara (Ab-Vara, or so I'm told) is a 19th-20th century Belarussian technique involving scalding the finish on the pottery to seal the porous surface. The bisqued piece is heated to approx 1650 F and removed and dunked into the Obvara mixure and then dunked in water to rapidly cool the piece. The pieces range from off white to almost black with speckles. It does a good job of sealing the clay, but I would still use liners and not use for food.
Obvara (Ab-Vara, or so I'm told) is a 19th-20th century Belarussian technique involving scalding the finish on the pottery to seal the porous surface. The bisqued piece is heated to approx 1650 F and removed and dunked into the Obvara mixure and then dunked in water to rapidly cool the piece. The pieces range from off white to almost black with speckles. It does a good job of sealing the clay, but I would still use liners and not use for food.
Obvara Mixture Recipe
Allow the mixture to ferment for about 3 days stirring frequently. |
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Process
The pieces must be made from a clay that can withstand thermal shock very well, such as a raku body or a stoneware with grog. We use Chad's Bod from Dakota Potters Supply which works for all our uses. Its is easiest to work with forms that have a large enough opening to allow the heat to escape and prevent explosions. The the surface of the pieces can be smooth or textured, I'm told terra sig does interesting effects but we have not had any luck with it yet. Bisque the pieces to 1800-1850 F. |
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The finish firing can be completed in any kiln that has easy access to it while firing. I would not recommend doing this indoors due to smell of burnt toast and opening the kiln at final temp would create a fire hazard!!! Fire the bisqued pieces to 1652 F. Remove from the kiln with a good set of tongs and dip into the Obvara mixture and swirl it around. Do not drop it in the mixture, it can be hard to get out of the container. Carefully remove the piece and quickly drain the mixture from the piece and dip into the large container of water. Once again do not drop the piece in the water. After swirling the piece in the water for a few moments removed and set aside to cool.
Primary source of information....Obvara firing technique Facebook page.