Name: Redware Ornaments - September 20
Start: 2025-09-20T13:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-09-20T16:00:00-04:00
Location: Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen

Instructor: Emily Smucker-Beidler
Skill Level: Beginner
Learn some of the fascinating history of early Pennsylvania Redware pottery, including how it was mined and processed, to the role and life of the potter within the Pennsylvania German culture. Students will start with a prepared slab of red clay with white slip and to cut out and at least 5 ornament shapes. Then, using the sgraffito method, we’ll scratch through the colored slip for our Fraktur designs. All provided patterns will be taken from historic Pennsylvania German red ware. Learn how to take traditional images and make them your own through clay. All ability levels are welcome, ages 13-100.
After the workshop, Emily will bisque fire your pieces, cover them in a clear glaze and fire once more. Ornaments can be picked up 4 weeks after the workshop -at the location where the workshop was taught. For an extra fee, Emily can mail participant(s) their ornaments.
The Crossover of Redware and Fraktur: Fraktur was created by Pennsylvania Germans during the eighteenth through the mid nineteenth centuries and features calligraphic text decorated with colorful birds, hearts and flowers. The tradition has its roots in the illuminated manuscripts of medieval Europe but evolved into a distinctive part of the local Pennsylvania German culture. At the same time, early Pennsylvania Germans were creating utilitarian red ware pieces for everyday use. The same images used in Fraktur were used on plates, bowls, and all manner of practical clay pieces.
Sign up online >>> https://pacrafts.org/events/redware-ornaments-september-20/