“The Times They Are A-Changin'”, Bob Dylan sang in 1964, and that’s right: the ceramic kiln control has changed a lot in recent decades.

Maybe he wasn’t singing about ceramic kilns, but he certainly could have done it! Political climate and human nature may have changed little since the ’50s. But the way ceramists operate their kilns has evolved dramatically.

From a hole in the ground to an electric kiln, it was a huge technological leap that took thousands of years. However, the transition from manual to fully automated control has taken place in less than 50 years. Making it accessible to urban potters like me.

For me, Lucie Rie is the founder of all “urban potters”. Rather than setting up a studio in the countryside with a gas or wood-burning kiln, she established her pottery shop at 18 Albion Mews, in the heart of London.

She ordered her first real electric stoneware kiln in 1948. It soon became clear that firing was more difficult than expected: the first firing during Christmas failed completely. The kiln over-fired!