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Sebastiano Mag Ho's got a big job making the big potAmasterBy Carol Stevenson World staff writerDUNDEE — What’s nine feet tall, weighs 700 pounds and stands on a pedestal?The Big Pot, that’s what.Sebastiano Maglio, master potter at Haeger Potteries, with the help of designer. Glenn Richardson and ceramic engineer and artists Alrun Guest, have created what they believe is the biggest vase in the world.The Guinness Book of World Records’ staff has shown interest in recording this mammoth vase, which is known among Haeger personnel as The Big Pot or even as The Pot.Ask any Haeger worker where the pot is, and each knows instantly which of the thousands of pots and vases on the premises is meant.The idea for the biggest vase was born in the head of E. K. Kaelke, executive vicepresident of Haeger.In early September Glenn Richardson designed one. He used a shape and decorations similar to vases used in ancient Athens.Alrun Guest did the decorations on the model for the project. The paintings, all done in the style of Attic pottery, show workers of the ancient time decorating pottery.Once all this work was done, Maglio began the the main job of shaping the vase.For starters, he slapped a 96-pound lump of clay around until all the air was out of it.How do you know when all the air is out?‘‘By experience, by the feel of the clay,”Maglio said.For three weeks, he worked using the same method as he does on more conventional pieces. He used 650 pounds of clay and 50 pounds of glaze.gone to potEventually, he worked standing on a stool.MThe top part, the neck of the vase, was made separate from the bottom part and attached later — a tricky job.To make sure all the water was out of the pot, it was dried for three weeks before going into the kiln.‘‘If just a little bit of water remains, it turns to steam and the whole thing blows up,” explained Joseph Estes, Haeger president.The pot went into the kiln for five days and baJked at 2,000 degrees. It didn't blow up. However, the first base Maglio made for the pot to stand on did.“It was a mess!” Estes said.Although the giant vase is priceless, Estes said, the small prototype is worth at least $1,000. Mrs. Guest spent 12 straight hours decorating the small model. And she is putting in many more hours decorating the big one.Estes plans to put the vase in a prominent position in the trophy room of the Dundee Scots Marching band in the Haeger sales area. The vase will be roped off, lighted and will have a flat top put in the neck to keep objects from falling inside.Despite its size, The Pot is graceful and beautiful. Estes says the only other pot comparable is one exhibited at the St. Louis Fair in 1903, and it was only six feet tall.A letter from the Guinness Book of WorldRecords urges Haeger’s to send word when The Pot is finished.In the unlikely event a pot even bigger is found, master potter Maglio has a solution:“I’ll make one bigger!”
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Dekalb World
Dekalb, Illinois, US
Thu, Jan 13, 1977
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USA 23 Sep 2022
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