CORNERSTONE POTTERY FARM
Owned by husband-and-wife tandem EJ and Eva Espiritu, this shop in Silang, Cavite creates food-safe stoneware and ceramics such as dinnerware, tea sets, mugs, chimes, oil burners and sculptures. “Our glazes are lead-free,” says Eva who, together with her ceramic engineer husband, started the business in 1996 for an exporter. In 2001 however, they began producing for the local market. Four years later, EJ started his studio pottery while Eva continued to be on top of the design and marketing.
Made by the traditional process of casting and hand-forming, each Cornerstone item is painstakingly created with much accuracy, time and effort. The clay preparation alone is crucial as wrong proportions or formulations can make or break a batch. “In casting, we prepare a mixture of powdered clay, water and a dispersing agent; in hand-forming, we mix a sold wet clay with other types of clay. The sturdiness of the clay body must withstand the following baking temperatures: 1000C [1832F] for the first eight to ten hours of baking; and 1200C [2192F] for roughly 16 to 18 hours of second baking,” explains Eva.