Grenade Reliquary, Art Pottery by Michael W. Moses

Today's post is a work that I finished January of last year. I call it the" Grenade Reliquary".  I started off with a wonderful heavy sterling silver hand grenade (a gift from a friend) on a sterling chain, A great piece of jewelry that was made back in the 1980's. I found a cool looking glass dome and then made a ceramic art pottery base for it. After I had formed the base out of white clay I took a vintage Army hat badge and made holes to attach it to the pottery. I then added a hole in the center for a wooden post to secure the Sterling grenade in place, The grenade has an opening at the bottom and is hollow.  I made sure that the holes were a bit larger than the posts, so that when fired  the holes would not shrink and be to small.  There is a bit of shrinkage when the clay is fired. The clay base was then fired. I then painted it with underglaze colors and then glazed it.  After re-firing,  I added a wooden dowel to the center and attached the hat badge with an adhesive.  I placed the Grenade in place on the dowel and put the glass dome in place. There it is, a work of art completed. This piece is one that I did for myself and is in my collection. If you are ever in the area stop by at South Coast Antiques & Gallery and ask to see The "Grenade Reliquary". I will bring it out for you.

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