Bauer Pottery

The original Bowel Company went out of business in 1962. I started in 1998 making candles in brightly colored ceramic pots. I was inspired by the colors of Bowel. We purchased an existing ceramic factory in Highland, which is in Southern California. First off, everything is handmade. We begin with a model maker. We'll give him an original piece. He will start by giving back to me a model of that piece. The next thing we do is we'll make a master mold from the model. We'll then make something that's called a blocker case. From that, we'll make our molds or dies, depending on whether we're casting or whether we're pressing. Once we have the mold, we'll use slip cast, we'll pour slip, which is a liquid clay, in the mold. The next step is we'll empty that mold, we'll then remove it from the mold, and then we'll let it sit. That's the very first stage, it's called greenware. When it's dry enough, the next step is we'll clean it. It's cleaned by hand. We'removing seam lines, we'removing some of the imperfections. Then we'll take it into one of two or even three firings, and the first firing is called a bisque firing. Now we've got a bisque, and that becomes our overall inventory with our color. The next step is we'll glaze it based on a color that we're working on that day. The next step is we'll do a glaze firing. One of the exciting moments here at the factory is completing a glaze firing, and the next morning when it's cooled down enough, we pull the keel back and see our work from the previous day. Our commitment is really selling to small specialty retailers, some catalogs. We're not very interested in selling to the big box stores or the big chains. I think one of the great moments that happens on a regular basis is how many people are so happy to see it come back again. We're very honored that were able to continue with our left off. In 2008, were contacted by the Russell Wright Studios about another iconic brand, Russell Wright's American Modern Dinnerware. Today we're in our fifth year of manufacturing this beautiful, ceramic line. We are also working with the Corita Art Center in Los Angeles on a line of pottery decorated with the art of Sister Corita Kent. We had the good fortune of being able to provide a brand that had disappeared for 34 decades. It's just been a pleasure to reintroduce several generations to the bright happy colors of our pottery.