Icing on the Cake


You might remember a really terrific image from House Beautiful this month.  I could not stop studying Christopher Spitzmiller and Clare Potter's new line of ceramics.

My mother had one of those white porcelain lamps with the roses appliqued on it when I was a little girl.  I begged her to put it in my room.  Wisely, she declined, but I made her move around me as she was pinning the latest pinafore rather than turn myself so that I could gaze on that lamp.

Spitzmiller and Potter's pieces are like that, except they've been touched by the wand of fairy godparents.

It's likely you've seen Spitzmiller's work in countless magazines and most recently on New York Social Diary.

I've had the pleasure of seeing a couple of pairs of his lamps up close and the glaze is other-worldly.  There is nothing like it and those dime-a-dozen knock-offs will be at the curb in no time while Chris's lamps will grace your grandchildren's tables.

And, yes, we've gone from Spitzmiller to Chris because I emailed him after seeing the House Beautiful story and said, "I must know what inspired this shift; I'm captivated."

And he emailed me right back.  Even by email you can tell he's gracious and engaging.  Chris and I do have a mutual friend, but that is not how we connected and the same is true of Chris and Clare Potter.  While they share a friend it was seeing her work that drove Chris to her studio to discuss a collaboration.


"Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, I had to meet her on my own, in my own time, which was probably the right time to meet her. We both needed a little something new to shake us up."


Thank heavens.  Chris crafts the vessels then sends the blank base to Potter to add the decorative elements.  She reads each piece to see what it wants and then works from there.  Do click on the individual images and you will see the detail of the flowers and be surprised by bees and bugs.  While they have both worked with colored glazes in other works for these they have chosen to keep the purity of white.


The pieces are coated in a clear glaze that is pink before it's fired.  And makes the pieces look as if they have been dipped in candlelight afterward.

These stunning pieces are available through Christopher Spitzmiller or Mallett Antiques.

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