Matt Grimmitt throwing a charger at Winchcombe Pottery

On my final day at Winchcombe I got the chance to try my hand at throwing chargers. I watched Matt do the business and then had a go myself. In the past I have had trouble with them collapsing, but I did not find it so hard this time.

For those not in the know, chargers are basically large plates. According to Wikipedia the word charger originated in England between 1275-1325 from the middle english "chargeour." They are an excellent canvas for decoration, being so large and having a deep flat lip. I intend to make some slipware chargers as soon as I can and play around with slip trailing/feathering.

You will see in the video that Matt throws the lip at a raised angle. This is because our clay tends to slump a little in the firing. This would not be an issue with earthenware and you could throw them the finished shape. Youtube has informed me that the video has been banned in German... not entirely sure why but if there are any Germans out there who desperately want to watch it send me an email!