Erik's Sgraffito Pottery

Erik Farrell's Sgraffito plate. (All photos by Mary Farrell from the Westmoore Pottery website.)

This past weekend we were visiting Dave and Mary of Westmoore Pottery down in Seagrove, and I was delighted to see the Sgraffito pottery that grandson Erik had decorated during his summer there.  (Erik is now in England studying for his Master's at the University of Durham).

Sgraffito (in Italian "to scratch") is a decorating pottery technique produced by applying glazes or slips to leather hard pottery and then scratching off parts to create contrasting images, patterns and texture and reveal the clay color underneath.

In Erik's decorations, green slip was applied and designs were "scratched off" revealing the redware underneath. After the initial firing, a clear glaze was applied to the interior only before the final firing.

I don't have a video of Erik decorating the pottery, but this video will give you an idea of how it's done.

Here are some of Erik's Sgraffito pottery.

Erik's Sgraffito Plate 566

Erik's Sgraffito Plate 509.

Erik's Sgraffito Plate 570

Erik's Sgraffito Plate 568.

I think Erik has done a terrific job with these plates.  They are lovely!!!!!