Here is Proof that Thicker Paste forms Thicker Glaze

Make a ball of Egyptian paste then cut it into two equal halfs; take one of your halfs and divided it in half again. So now you have one half and two fourths made from your original ball of Egyptian paste. Taking one of your fourths and rolling it into a ball and joining the remaining fourth to the half yielding two balls of Egyptian paste, one being three times more volume than the other. Press these into a button form, dry and fire them to cone 04 (approximately 1000°C) and now you have what is pictured here.

The button on the left is one third the volume of that on the right. Both buttons started with the same surface details. However the larger one developed so much more glaze that it obscured /flooded the texture. Photographing on a dollar bill should give you perspective on both size, detail and color.

These two buttons were fired along side one another in the kiln; the reason that is mention is that placement in the kiln also effects the glaze. However, this is a subject for another post later on. The unfired Egyptian Paste or 'greenware', as potters call it, shows an even deep texture than the fired ware.

For now we have our first little fact for the behavior of Egyptian paste. Fact #1. The larger the volume of paste, the thicker the glaze. Well that is one fact down, 99 more to go!

Small Hole Beads

Looking at the faience from ancient Egypt, one has to wonder how they crafted such little beads. All of my attempts at piercing tiny beads, ended with a crack that was larger than the hole. How did the ancient Egyptians do it?

It can be done; we know that for certain by examining museum pieces, but how? What did the ancient Egyptians have to work with? Skill, a lot of time and bronze tools is the answer to that, but not much else.

That's what got me to thinking the answer had to the simple. Knowing that nothing organic survives at 1000°C (1800°F), a few pea size balls of Egyptian paste were threaded onto pine needles. These were dried leaning against the wall of a ceramic dish, in order to let it dry from all sides and place it into kiln without disturbing the glaze surface. It was fired pine needles and all. Much to my surprise, this experiment worked splendidly!