Stories from the Studio

The Crafting of a Farmhouse Pot

Take a peek behind the scenes to see how each Farmhouse pot comes to life.

July 12, 2025

By Jessica Vanderberry

When we say our pottery is made by hand, we mean it. From weighing the clay to dipping each pot into the glaze, an artist’s hand is involved in every single step of our pottery making process. We take pride in our traditional handmade practices. Our wheel-thrown ceramics are designed for daily use and to pass down through generations.

Step into our Vermont studio and see how our community of artists crafts each piece, one by one.

Step One

Weighing & Wedging

Each piece of clay is weighed on an old-fashioned dial scale to the exact amount needed for the intended piece. Similar to kneading dough, larger pieces need to be wedged in order to remove any air bubbles.

Step Two

Setting up the wheel

Potters start their day by gathering tools, buckets of water, and the prepped clay. Lastly, they set up their pointer — a guiding tool to help with consistency in the height and width of each pot.

Step Three

Throwing the Pots

One by one, a day of throwing begins. This might mean an assignment to create 60 bowls. Centering the clay, pulling the walls, and comparing each piece — the practice and repetition builds their intuition.

Step Four

Slow Drying

After the pots are made, they spend the night in our damp room. The humidity-controlled environment dries the pots slowly, allowing them to shrink more evenly. This creates a better consistency for finishing work the following day.

Step Five

Finishing Work

The next day, the pots return to the wheel for finishing. Depending on the piece, this can include trimming excess clay, adding handles, stamping — anything it needs to reach its final form before it is glazed and fired in our kilns.

Step Six

Loading the Kiln

Every potter learns how to load and unload the kilns, which helps inform their approach to making the pieces in the studio. It’s a puzzle that takes strategic thinking to maximize the space, and takes up to an hour and a half to do. We load and unload two large kilns every day.

Step Seven

Glazing

Each one of our pots is glazed by hand before they return to the kiln for a second firing. Depending on the piece, we use a milk glaze or a clear glaze. Both glazes are lead-free and food-safe.

Step Eight

Quality Control

After unloading the kilns, each piece undergoes careful inspection by our team members. This serves a dual purpose — to ensure every piece meets the Farmhouse standard and to train our potters to recognize the essential characteristics of our forms. We compare each piece to an ideal reference sample and set aside any pieces that have quirks but remain functional for our Seconds collection. Only the highest quality pieces are shipped to our collectors worldwide.