As Seen In: Bon Appétit Holiday 2018

This was one of the most exciting projects to land in my inbox all year! I had the opportunity to create an extra large Baroque Platter for Bon Appétit magazine to showcase their impressive holiday ham.

The project came with a few welcome challenges: A nearly unheard of in handmade pottery 6 day production lead-time from start to finish, and the platter needed to be able to comfortably hold an 18" ham. Our usual Baroque Platters measure at 14" long by 10" wide, so the customized version had to be much larger, which meant freehand carving the form instead of using the template I usually work from. I love to push the accepted limits of ceramics, so I was all in for these challenges!

The platter needed to make sense as a larger form, meaning it needed to proportionally increase in size, not only length. I started by working with a massive amount of clay, more than double the size I usually work with when making our standard Baroque Platters. This resulted in an adequately thick form that could be enlarged in all directions without composing structure, function, or design.

I made the form as an oval first to ensure my proportions could work within the size needed by the client. Please excuse the phone quality photos. I was so excited and in the flow working on this piece that I didn't grab my camera for a proper in process shot. 

An 18" ham would need room on all sides to properly serve, and I needed to account for the near 13% shrinkage rate my porcelain undergoes from wet clay to the finished product three firings later. This platter was gigantic! Thankfully our largest kiln could accommodate it! 

Below is the platter after carving, still very damp and drying on a plaster slab-- one of my tricks to dry the bottom of the thick clay at a faster speed to keep up with the tight deadline.

After completing the platter within record time, I shipped it up for the Bon Appétit team to style and shoot. I'm thrilled with the final product! The platter looks perfectly at home in this glorious feast and I now think I need to make extra large Baroque Platters a product in our shop! Would you use one for your holiday entertaining?

If you'd like to see this in person, pick up a copy of the December 2018-January 2019 Bon Appétit Holiday Issue!

Happiest of Holiday Wishes to you all!

xoxo Lindsay