Cromarty Image Library

Barbel's Chianti Bottle Kiln at Cromarty Stables

Barbel's first Chianti Bottle Kiln firing on Sunday 18th July. Traditionally a bottle kiln is a bottle shaped structure made from fire bricks, with the pots stacked inside and a firebox fed with wood for the heat. Barbel had read about a 'Chianti Bottle Kiln' in France where someone had built the bottle shape of the kiln using empty wine bottles. As the interior temperature reached about 600 degrees, the bottles, with their necks pointed inwards, gradually melted into the cavity inside, leaving an interesting sculptural form once cooled.

This one is quite a small example, but Barbel is hoping to build a much larger one in the winter, when the darker evenings will make the result even more spectacular. There are more images and some movies of this event on the Cromarty Pottery web site - see web link below . . .