Daphne Carnegy makes a range of thrown, and sometimes hand-built, painted tin-glazed earthenware which combine an awareness of historical precedents with her passion for plants. An apprenticeship in France and several visits to Italy introduced Daphne to the delights of earthenware and in particular tin-glazed ware, often referred to as ‘maiolica’. Additional training at Harrow School of Art refined and developed her skills and confirmed her commitment to low-fired pottery.
The attraction of maiolica for her lies in its unique qualities – a softness, depth and luminosity of glaze and colour not to be found in other ceramic techniques, the transformation of the pigments in the firing, and the variations of intensity and texture of the pigments as they fuse and shift with the glaze. The many variable elements – body, glaze and pigment thickness, firing temperature – all conspire to create continual surprises on opening the kiln. She makes a range of thrown, and sometimes hand-built, painted tin-glazed earthenware which combine an awareness of historical precedents with her passion for plants.