Art / Pottery
Ceramicist makes miniature model of historic square
A ceramicist who made a model of his partner’s house has now completed all of the buildings around one of Bristol’s most famous squares.
The anonymous artist is currently looking for somewhere to display his clay model of Dowry Square in Hotwells.
“I started off making number 1 for my partner but then thought it looked lonely and went on to make number 2,” the artist known as ‘the Secret Ceramicist’ told Bristol24/7.
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“I was hooked then and had to carry on.”
The artist said that making the model was “a real challenge” as most of the houses in the historic square with a large number of former famous residents are different.
He added that the intention was never to complete the entire square “but once I had made one complete side, I was encouraged to keep on going by friends and residents”.
The anonymous artist is looking for somewhere to display his model of Dowry Square
The artist, a civil servant who has been doing pottery classes at the Folk House on Park Street since the late 90s, ensured the accuracy of the models by taking careful measurements.
“I took lots of photos of each house. I measured along the front of each house. After that, I had to do many calculations to work out the relative widths and heights.
“I then made a scale drawing on graph paper to work out the shape and size of the slabs I needed. Each house was made to the same scale.
“I used the scale drawings to make templates for cutting out the shapes in clay. Later, these drawings had the details of the front façade – doors, windows, ledges etc – added.
“A copy of this was used to transfer this drawing onto the fronts of the clay houses. This is done using a wax-resist method.”
The models are all remarkably accurate even down to their individual brickwork
“I was as accurate as I could possibly be,” the artist added.
“I used Google Earth to see how some of the roofs were arranged. Many of the houses have complicated arrangements of valley gutters…
“Each house was made separately and inevitably there could be slight variations in the moisture content between each set of slabs.
“There is always an element of luck as to how much each model might shrink in the kiln when it is fired.”
Each house takes around three weeks to make
So is the Secret Ceramicist pleased with the end result? “Yes I am and it has been very rewarding to hear the positive comments from friends, neighbours and residents of the square.
“I would like more people to see it, but would like it to be displayed in a safe environment, in a glass or plastic case.”
If you have somewhere suitable to display the model, please email maryrouncefield@yahoo.co.uk
Dowry Square residents share a communal garden
All photos: Martin Booth
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