Coral Colored Sand Dollar Mishima Plate. Wheel-thrown Ceramic Pottery. Candle Plate.

Dennis's Wheel-thrown and Hand Drawn Sand Dollar Mishima Inlay Technique Plate Measures:

4-5/8" wide x 5/8" high.

This mishima plate can also be used as a candle plate, a catch all plate, watch plate, or you can use it to serve a couple of bon bons.

I gave Dennis some reference material, and asked him to draw something on his pottery.
I just love the way Dennis draws, and I would like him to draw more on his pottery. Since he likes seashells and leaves, that was a good place to start.
So Dennis drew this lovely sand dollar with a metal ball tool on the surface of his wheel-thrown plate. 
Mishima is sometimes associated with an island in Japan, however the Mishima inlay technique originated in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty.
 Mishima technique is not solely Japanese. 

This ceramic decoration technique involves carving lines into leather-hard clay and then filling those lines with a contrasting colored slip. 
(Please refer to "How It's Made" section by scrolling down).

Wheel thrown and hand glazed by Dennis.
Colored Standard 365 Porcelain Clay.
Glazed with dinnerware safe, lead free glazes
Dishwasher, microwave and oven safe.
Kiln fired to cone 6 (2232 degrees Fahrenheit)
Dennis's initials with happy face carved on the bottom.

How It's Made

This plate was created on the potter's wheel using colored porcelain clay, and an inlay technique called mishima.
A design is etched into leather hard clay. (clay that is dryer than wet clay, and wetter than bone dry clay). 
Colored slip is placed into the groove created by the etching.
When the surface has dried sufficiently, the excess clay is scraped off, leaving the surface smooth. It is important to use a porcelain slip that is a different color and/or a complementary color, or the etched design will not be visible.

All of our pottery is wheel-thrown and/or handbuilt in our North Carolina home studio.