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Willard
Spence developed this stunning crystalline glaze in the early 1950s at
Nateso Pueblo in unincorporated Indian Hills west of Denver.
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In his
1995, The Potter's Odyssey
he describes the Indian Hills
Pottery glaze recipe as a "Cone 02
Aventurine" with the following
ingredients (in percents): |
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Borax
Glass 35.5
Silica 34
Red Iron Oxide 17
Nepheline Syenite 13.5
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His
aventurine glaze at 2048°(Fahr) was
one of the first of its kind using higher temperatures. In the
early 50s aventurine (Goldstone) glazes were more often fired some
100° lower (cone 04 at 1940°).
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From
Robin Chotzinoff's It's a Mud, Mud,
Mud, Mud World(pdf):
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"Spence
was a lot more interested in
glazes than forms,...
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Sometimes
he'd just buy a piece of pottery and
make a mold out of it to practice glazes on. |
This
could explain the three-inch squirrel attached to an ashtray..."
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So our
squirrel planter (and ashtray above) may have been recast from other
pottery. |
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We
don't know what glaze the squirrel has. Spence experimented extensively
with glazes and outlines many in Potter's Odyssey. One
possibility is his Piñon Tree Ash. |
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Finally
perhaps the most common of Indian Hills Pottery items is their wedding
jug.
This example has a beautiful crystalline glaze typical of Willard
Spence's work.
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Parmalee Gulch
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John D.
Parmalee was among the first settlers of the Indian Hills area at the
North Fork of Turkey
Creek. His Parmalee House was the Post Office
from 1926-1951.
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He
established the Denver and Turkey Creek Wagon Road Company linking
Denver with South Park via Turkey Creek Canyon. Parts of the road are
still visible today. |
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In the
1880s Benjamin F. Eden became the second gatekeeper on the Wagon Road.
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Nateso Pueblo
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In
1918, George W. Olinger a Denver mortuary magnate began buying land in
the area.
His aim was to build summer tourist cabins. Today some of his cabins
have become year-round residences.
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His
first Indian Hills filing was Arrowhead Park in 1923. He sold small
lots advertising "Indian Hills for Your Mountain Home".
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From A
Brief History of Indian Hills(pdf):
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