Making and Molding
The Magic of Molds
Traditionally, the handle would be molded separately and attached later. The 3-part mold is used to make the ceramic jugs. The mother mold is used to make plaster positives to produce many 3-part push molds. A mother mold in the 18th century would have been made out of all plaster and some of them in many parts. The first step in the molding process was to design and create an original 3-D model from clay or plaster. From this model, a block mold maker, often doubling as the designer of the original model, made a negative called the master block mold or mother mold. The mold was then pressed with clay to make copies. Since the master molds were the most precise reproductions of the original model, they were quite valuable.
