barebirch Travellers Mug with Lid

Each piece of Leishman stoneware is handcrafted using all natural ingredients. It is then fired to 2300F with food safe glazes. Stoneware is a hard, strong and vitrified ware. The glaze and clay, when they reach this temperature at the same time, form an integrated body-glaze layer.

Our clay supplier for the last 35 years has been Tucker’s Pottery Supplies in Richmond Hill, ON. All our clay is Alberta based. The glaze ingredients come mostly from North America. Some mines close, some ingredients become harder to find. Frank Tucker helps to keep that supply chain running.

Nature and chemistry affect the beauty of each item. Small blemishes and marks may occur, but in no way will they affect the integrity of the piece.

Thermal Shock is stress caused within a ceramic object by temperature change. If there is a large difference in temperature between two parts of the same piece of ceramic (i.e. the bottom of the pot on a burner and the sides not on a burner or frozen food inside the casserole which would remain cold while the pot heated up), there is obviously a size difference due to expansion and contraction. This is the cause of the stress. In order to avoid thermal shock, which results in the cracking of your pottery, all teapots should always be preheated with hot tap water before adding the boiling water. Casseroles, and any item to be used in the oven should be at room temperature before being put into the hot oven. If you have frozen food in the casserole dish, do not place it from the freezer directly into the oven, but allow it to attain room temperature first. No pottery of any kind should be placed directly onto the stove top burner. These precautions are again to avoid thermal shock, which results in the loss of your pottery. With a minimum amount of special care to avoid thermal shock, you will ensure years of continued use. No lead is used in our pottery.