Close-Up of Lantern Top

"I like trees because they seem more resigned to
the way they have to live than other things do."
 Willa Cather

Stoneware Garden Lanterns

Click on the images for close-up photos and more information!

         I was inspired to do these lanterns during my two-year residency in Japan, where I did my pottery apprenticeship with Tatsuzo Shimaoka, a Living National Treasure of that country. When visiting temples throughout Japan, I would often see various shapes and sizes of carved gray granite lanterns, accenting the temple grounds.

My lanterns are about 50” tall, and 26” wide. They sit on a concrete base. The base weighs approximately 55 Pounds, and the ceramic lantern itself weighs about 78 pounds. Wired for a 110-volt incandescent bulb, they cast a pleasing glow into the garden or patio at night. The lantern is constructed in five parts, and is held together by threaded brass fittings. The pedestal trunk sits upon the concrete base. The lower disk and light cage are a separate piece which sit on the pedestal trunk. The larger top disk then rests on the light cage. The top spire-cap then threads onto a brass shaft coming up from the light cage. To change bulbs, or repair the light fixture, one simply unscrews the top spire cap, and lifts off the top disk.

            Techniques involved in its making include throwing on the potter’s wheel with alterations, and hand-building with rolled slabs of clay. All the separate pieces are bisque fired, and then glazed by various means of pouring, syringing, spraying, and brushing. The individual pieces are then reduction fired in a gas kiln to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. These lanterns will endure the full range of weather and the elements (well OK, maybe not hurricanes, earthquakes, or stray livestock). Glazes will not fade in sunlight.

Concrete Lantern Bases With River Stones

They're Hollow!