Crystal Jade Tumbler

My crystal jade tumbler was hand made from porcelain. It has a beautiful, unique crystalline glaze on its surface, created by applying one of my studio crystalline glazes and once dry, by brushing onto it a silver nitrate suspension. Making crystalline glazes can be very costly, but the silver nitrate is the most expensive single component I’ve ever used in a glaze recipe – this mug has $10 worth of that one single component alone! It does create remarkable, golden/bronze crystals though. The interior has a clear, glossy liner glaze.

Crystalline glazes are a specialized glaze which must be measured out extremely accurately from a variety of raw materials. During a very long and hot glaze firing (1300 degrees Celsius), zinc silicate crystals form on the piece. The glaze is designed to be very runny as this assists in the growth of the glossy crystals. To avoid the pieces from bonding to the kiln shelf, a ‘riser’ and ‘drip dish’ are made to match each piece and after the firing process are removed. This leaves a jagged edge, so I grind and sand each piece down with 5-6 different tools, until a baby-bottom smooth base is achieved. It is a very lengthy process with a comparably high failure rate, but I hope you agree that the results are worth it! To ensure the longevity of the glossy crystals, I recommend hand washing crystalline work.