Willy van Bussel (the Netherlands)
The pots of Willy van Bussel are hand thrown in porcelain and decorated with high gloss crystalline glazes. Crystalline glazes were developped around 1900 and are typical for the Jugendstil period. The glazes contain a lot of zinc-oxide. In the time the kiln needs to cool down, bigger or smaller crystals arise in the glaze (like frost flowers on a window). What exactly happens depends on the structure of the glaze and the way of firing. Quick firing, cooling down, firing up again and then cool down very slowly makes the firing of a kiln with crystalline glazes very special.
See: www.vanbussel-keramiek.nl
