Winter Wisteria

Home-grown handles
by Stephen Driver

Wood-fired porcelain teapot with wisteria handle by Stephen Driver.

few years ago, under orders from my wife, I removed a monster wisteria vine that had never bloomed in our back yard. On the way to the burn pile, I was fiddling with the vine and discovered that it was flexible and didnt crack when bent. Immediately, I wondered if wisteria would be usable for teapot handles so I started a series of experiments. Over time Ive found that the wisteria vine has some very positive characteristics. When harvested in the winter, it doesnt crack or split and is easily manipulated. After it dries, the vine is durable and easy to work into a handle, and the skin has a wonderful texture. As a handle, the vine is sturdy and rigid, but also soft and flexible so it doesnt put a lot of stress on the clay lugs when in use. It has good visual weight for use with pots and high aesthetic value. The one drawback Ive found is that, although the bark is durable, it can be nicked or abraded.
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Photos 4-14 by Amy Walden

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make the cuts, and mark them clearly (figure 5). Cut the vine a little longer than you think you need to give yourself some flexibility. After cutting the ends to the appropriate length (figure 6), mark where you are going to make the cuts into the handle for the lugs and again make sure they are clearly marked (figure 7). Place the handle in a vise on an angle that makes it easy to saw, and use wood slats on the sides so you wont chew up the handle surface. Ive tried several types of saws to make these cuts, and a Japanese backsaw (dozuki) is the best one yet. Carefully cut down the two sides and also in the middle, and then saw on a little bit of an angle out from the center to the sides until the pieces pop out (figure 8). When you have finished sawing to the right depth, use a variety of rough files and sandpaper grits to get a good custom fit (figure 9). This might require several fittings on the lug until you get a snug but nonbinding fit (figure 10). Repeat the process on the other side of the handle. The clay lugs on my teapots have a hole in the center for a dowell to go through. Carefully mark where to drill on the handle and make a hole the same size as

The best time to harvest the vine is in the winter after theyve gone dormant (figure 1). Now that I know what I want, I encourage vines to grow in certain ways. I really like the vines to grow up into the surrounding trees or as long lateral runners. You should cut the vine to a longer length than is actually needed for the handle because when you bend it, you need the extra length to get a pleasing curve (figure 2) and to tie it up with the annealed wire (figure 3). I havent paid attention to how long it takes for the handles to dry enough to keep their shape after the wire is removed, but it isnt very longmaybe two weeks or a month. I did discover that the vine will warp some while drying, and the two sides do not always stay in line. The solution is to clamp down the ends with wood slats. After drying, you can still manipulate the handles some, in terms of changing the distance between the ends and taking the torque out, by putting them in a vegetable steamer for a few minutes and clamping them between wood slats for a day or two. Pick out the handle that best suits your pot (figure 4). Lay the handle next to the teapot to find where to

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Photos 1-3 by Isaac Bingham

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the dowel rod you want to use. (I am favoring J inch these days.) I used to take great care in measuring and marking where I drill, but now I just eyeball it. I use a Flex-Shaft to drill the holes (figure 11), but a Dremel tool or hand-held electric drill both work well. Cut off a length of wood dowel, put some wood glue on the tip and push the dowel into place with pliers (figure 12). Cut off any extra dowel with the back saw. I use rattan to cover up the ends of the handle and the lugs. First soak the rattan in water, then cut about a 10-inch piece to wrap around the ends of the handle (figure 13). The rattan wears well and looks good, and I am satisfied with it so far. When the handle is dry, I put a coating of oil over it all. Ive used tung oil, linseed oil and Watco oil, and all gave satisfactory results. I put

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two coats on if I have time, and I suggest to buyers that they recoat the handle once a year or as needed. This has been an experimental process, and I do not claim to have all the answers in using wisteria as a handle material. But I do like the results I have come up with in my own work. This is just one solution, and I hope other potters experiment and discover new and different ways of using natural materials like wisteria. Stephen Driver has been a potter for more than thirty years. He operates Mulberry Creek Studio in Owensboro, Kentucky, where he is also on the faculty at nearby Brescia University. For comments, you can contact him at stephend@brescia.edu.

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