Excerpt from Ira Chaudhuri, ‘Pottery and I’, in A Pottery Story: The Work of Ira Chaudhuri, compiled and edited by Itu Chaudhuri, designed by Itu Chaudhuri Design, New Delhi, published by Tulika Books, New Delhi. Published with permission from the publisher.
Our collective ignorance about pottery was phenomenal. We had not even heard of Bernard Leach. We had no books on pottery except some on ancient Chinese pottery but nothing that provided any practical help. With the help of a science student, I managed to find some books on industrial chemistry that had a chapter on ceramic chemistry. It was from that book that I made the great discovery that some metal oxides were the colourants in pottery. We had some white-firing stoneware clay that Punabhai got from Than in Saurashtra. Fired in our little kiln—especially without any fluxing agent, the pots were sadly unfired—but precisely because of that the burnishing remained (it does not, at stoneware temperatures). The pots looked quite nice with a sort of ivory finish. Every new step was at the time a matter of jubilation that was shared by many, even outside our little department.
2 Iramese pots, 1995, Sgraffito, Stoneware, h 8 w 8, Coll Asha & Raj Kubba. Photo: Published with permission from the publisher.
Platter, 2017, Wax resist glazed stoneware, h 1.5 dia 15, Coll Tejal & Rahul Amin. Photo: Published with permission from the publisher.
I got a small quantity of oxides from a very sympathetic chemistry professor and mixed it with clay and water and invited people to paint, many joined the fun. Punabhai kept on warning us that dyes disappear in firing—we assured him that these would not, but he kept smirking behind his considerable moustaches. He anyway thought we were all crazy—and to our great joy the decoration in chalky hues stayed!
Ira Chaudhuri
A Pottery Story
Tulika Books, 2024
It was only in 1979 that I had my first solo exhibition but have been exhibiting more or less regularly. It was around that time I started doing sgraffito and I still do a lot of it—in a way it is “my thing.”
I never tire of pushing the cause of studio pottery in India. I never miss an opportunity of doing so. I try my best to dispel the impression that potters mint money—they do not. Some people complain about prices. I think we are getting underpaid. This happens because studio pottery has not got its legitimate place in our art scene. It is often dismissed as something inferior, because pots can be used. Even a very indifferent piece of ceramic sculpture fetches a better price than a really good pot.
Back of a platter, 2017, Sgraffito, Stoneware, h 1 dia 12, Coll unknown. Photo: Published with permission from the publisher.
Spherical Pot, 2017, Unglazed porcelain, h 5 w 4, Coll Nita Wig. Photo: Published with permission from the publisher.
This, as I have mentioned at the outset, is my story and not a researched article or a survey of pottery. The names I have mentioned are the people I had something to do with or mentioned to illustrate a point…
As I am fond of saying, I have learnt something from every potter I’ve known—even if sometimes what not to do. I am indebted to them all.