Glaze type · Blues
Barium & strontium blues
Across 27 published recipes: mostly cone 6 and cone 10, fired in oxidation and reduction; dry matte, opaque.
Atmosphere
oxidation 64% · reduction 19% · neutral 11% · salt & soda 6%
Surface
dry matte 28% · Matte 28% · Satin matte 22% · Satin 11% · Semi-glossy 11%
Transparency
opaque 57% · semi-opaque 19% · translucent 14% · transparent 10%
Materials that define it
Share of recipes containing each material, and the typical amount when present. Materials link to their reference pages.
| Material | In recipes | Typical | Half of recipes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silica | 70% | 11% | 7.5–14% |
| Nepheline syenite | 67% | 52.9% | 47.3–56% |
| Copper carbonate | 59% | 3.75% | 3.12–6% |
| Barium carbonate | 52% | 36.6% | 26.5–44.75% |
| EPK | 48% | 7% | 6–16.67% |
| Strontium carbonate | 44% | 23% | 21.22–29.38% |
| Lithium carbonate | 44% | 3.5% | 2.02–4% |
| Whiting | 33% | 5% | 1.45–12.05% |
| Bentonite | 26% | 2% | 2–2% |
| Cobalt carbonate | 22% | 2.52% | 0.8–103% |
| Kaolin | 22% | 6% | 5.5–10.35% |
| Ball clay | 19% | 7% | 6.6–405.05% |
| Custer feldspar | 15% | 39.4% | 34.62–44.17% |
| Dolomite | 11% | 7% | 4–11% |
Typical fired chemistry
Median oxide analysis (weight %) across the recipes that report one, with the interquartile range. Silica and alumina set the melt; the fluxes and colorants make the family.
| Oxide | Median | Half of recipes |
|---|---|---|
| SiO2 | 43.25% | 38.24–48.38% |
| Al2O3 | 13.29% | 11.11–14.77% |
| Na2O | 4.4% | 3.68–5% |
| K2O | 2.51% | 2.11–3.57% |
| Li2O | 1.12% | 0.8–1.57% |
| CaO | 0.4% | 0.32–3.22% |
| BaO | 24.9% | 19.81–30.77% |
| SrO | 15.6% | 14.69–18.4% |
| CuO | 2.18% | 1.35–3.58% |
What potters should know
High barium plus copper gives matte blues; strontium behaves similarly with less toxicity — read the barium hazard note before mixing.
Related types
Questions
- What is a Barium & strontium blues glaze?
- In 27 published recipes, Barium & strontium blues glazes are mostly fired to cone 6 and cone 10 in oxidation and reduction, with a dry matte, opaque result. The defining materials are Silica, Nepheline syenite, Copper carbonate, Barium carbonate, EPK.
- What cone is Barium & strontium blues fired to?
- The most common cones in published recipes are cone 6 and cone 10; the full distribution is on this page. Atmosphere matters as much as cone for this family: oxidation and reduction.
- What is the typical chemistry of a Barium & strontium blues glaze?
- Median fired analysis: SiO2 43.25%, Al2O3 13.29%, Na2O 4.4%, K2O 2.51%, Li2O 1.12%, CaO 0.4%. Treat these as the centre of a range, not a target — the same family spans different fluxes and cones.
Sources. Every figure is a statistic computed by Claybench over 10,859 glaze recipes compiled from publicly shared community recipe collections (snapshot 2026-02-27); no recipe is reproduced. Colour-chemistry notes are paraphrased from Linda Arbuckle's Ceramic Materials handout.
Colorant and flux notes touch on materials with handling hazards (barium, cobalt, chrome, manganese, lead in historic recipes). Read each material's page and its supplier SDS before mixing; test any food surface.
Claybench checks a glaze against your clay body and cone before it lands on a plan
Recipes, materials, hazards and cone fit — the same reference behind this page, inside the studio planner.