Black collection by Jiří Duchek
It comes from Džbán highlands. Wood-fired at 1200°C in a strongly reduction atmosphhere, it means in a minimum of oxygen inside kiln, therefor carbon stays mostly in the clay and doesn´t burn out. So the clay gets special qualitites such as visible exceptional colour and tactually we can feel it similar to slate (fosilized mud under pressure without oxygen). Slate was a popular material in ancient and prehistoric times. Some historical sources even say such clay has antiseptic (purifying) qaulities. This is one of very few procedures, when a potter can get such a colour as a result with natural materials without any industrially processed additives such as metal oxides, colouring or chemical materials. Luckily, we have few pieces from this “black collection” at the moment.
