Goose FireCeramics

Ceramic pigs

Whimsical ceramic pigs

Each pig starts as slip in a plaster mould. What comes out of the mould is up to Alesha: the ears, the expression, the spots, the attitude.

These are our decorative ceramic pigs, made in our studio in Staunton, Illinois. Every pig is cast, trimmed, and glazed by hand, and every one leaves the bench with its own personality.

How a pig gets its personality The winged pig

A glossy glazed pig, cream coloured with orange flecks, wide upright ears and a painted eye.
A glazed pig out of the kiln. Wide ears, a curled snout, and a look of total suspicion.
The same glazed pig seen from above, its ears spread wide, a hand resting beside it.
From above, the ears and the snout do most of the work.

Small batch

Ceramic pig sculptures, one bench at a time

We do not run production lines. Alesha casts a few pigs at a time, works each one by hand, and glazes them in small batches, so the finishing varies from pig to pig. One run came out of the kiln cream and flecked with orange. Another settles into whatever the glaze decides that day.

Where the glaze pools and runs is where the colour ends up varying. That is the part the kiln has the last word on.

The winged pig

A pig with wings

The boldest pig in the studio so far is a large form with applied wings, built up by hand before it ever saw the kiln.

Wings are not part of the mould. They are added to the cast body while the clay is still soft, then the whole piece dries slowly before its first firing.

It is the clearest example of what Alesha does to a familiar shape: the mould gives a pig, and the bench gives it something to be about.

Read about making the winged pig

Alesha, in glasses and a clay-marked leather apron, smiles while holding a large pale clay pig with applied wings.
The winged pig on the bench, held up while the clay is still soft.

More from the studio