Crystalline ceramics from Latvia

Arnis Preiss has worked in clay since 1976 — fifty years at the wheel in Zelmeņi, Latvia.

His field is crystalline glaze ceramics: stoneware fired to 1290°C, where zinc-silicate crystals grow on the surface as the kiln slowly cools. The pattern cannot be controlled or repeated — every vase, bowl and cup is one of one.

The work runs from small cups to seventy-centimetre vases, in cobalt blue, turquoise, yellow, green and white. Beside the studio, 250 bee colonies produce Zelmeņi honey — buckwheat, rapeseed and heather.

Ships worldwide from Latvia. The studio welcomes visitors year-round.

Zelmeņi · Latvia

Three generations in clay

Arnis Preiss is the first of three generations of potters — his son Tenis, and his grandson Matiass, who works in Iceland under his own name. The studio at Zelmeņi is open to visitors year-round: a throwing demonstration, the kiln room, the apiaries, and a tasting. €8 per person.
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