Ironically, I’e been coming up with soap-dish designs for a friend of mine who runs a soap company, but this pattern isn’t in the running. I made the basic form of this by extruding soft clay through a die. The die is shaped like a smiley-mouth with fangs. That’s the best way I can think of to describe it. You pull down on a handle which forces the clay through the die, making a long trough with running feet on the bottom. Then you slice it into individual sushi-sized plates. I always lose chunks of the beginning, and the end, and sometimes in the middle, from dry clay or airholes or unevenly mixed density gradients which cause the extruded pug to curl to one side.
These are usually used as test tiles. they have the dip in the middle to catch glazes that run. They’re small enough to make them easily and plentifully without wasting a lot of time or clay. They’re also useful, which is nice for long-term potters who don’t want excess clay cluttering up the house. I added the sprigs because I was so excited by how well the silicone molds were working for sprigs. Far superior to plaster, even though they’re much more expensive.
