Kenneth Henderson makes reproduction redware pottery in the Anglo-American tradition. He trained as a potter at Old Sturbridge Village (1986-1990) and as a result, his strongest focus is toward early 19th century, New England pottery. Whenever he finds it possible, his pots are based on artifacts that he has examined personally. He also uses photographs of artifacts, archaeological quality line drawings, and period illustrations.
Henderson works with natural earthenware clay rather than a manufactured clay body. Most of his pots are wheel-turned, or less frequently, drape or slump molded. All work is done by hand. Nothing is jiggered or ram-pressed. The pots are green-glazed and single fired in glazes designed to look like the historic lead glazes. His glaze is a bright and transparent reddish brown. The glaze is food safe and all of his pottery is totally functional within the context of its historic usage.
Nearly all Henderson’s pottery is decorated to some degree. The historic decorations he uses are either slip-trailing, sgraffito in the North Devon tradition, or daubing with manganese dioxide stain. Slip-trailing creates a raised design, while sgraffito creates an incised decoration. Some pots are glazed on the interior only. This is the historic pattern for glaze application on these pots. These include: lard pots, pie pans, and batter bowls.
Henderson also produces a selection of yellow ware decorated in the mottled, tortoise shell glaze associated with Rockingham and Bennington pottery. All of his pottery is made in limited quantities and orders are filled on a first come first serve basis. Since all pieces are handmade, sizes and color may vary.
The entry deadline for the 2023 Directory of
Traditional American Crafts has passed. We are now processing entries and submitting
them to our jurors. We will contract entrants after the jurors have made ther decisions.