We are delighted to welcome visitors to both potteries where you can walk through parts of the workshop areas. You will see the decorators at work, view the kiln and at certain times of the day, see how the products are made.
All of our clay, glazes and decorating colours, are mixed to our own recipes, and made by us in Lochinver.
Our pots are made, using three processes:
Jigger and Jolley
Used for all plates, bowls, mugs, etc.
Hand Throwing
Used for vases, lamp bases and many of our one-off specials
Our unique Extruder
Used to make our salmon and fish dishes, geo squares and rectangles, and tiles.
Each piece is carefully modelled, assembled and finished by hand.
The pots are then dried and loaded into the kiln for the initial ‘bisque’ firing to 1000°c.
The next stage is to dip the bisque pot in the base glaze.
It is then skillfully free-hand decorated by our artists.
Our distinctive patterns are created by applying our unique palette of colour using a range of specialised techniques, primarily brushwork, but also sponging, wax resist, and sgraffito.
The pots are then fired to 1300°c. in a carefully controlled gas-fired kiln atmosphere.
At this stage the glazes completely change colour. This ‘reduction’ firing gives us a richness and depth of quality, with permanence and durability that is the hallmark of Highland Stoneware.