Ancient Copper and Sapphire Float combo by Jennifer Meech

AMACO Ancient Copper and Sapphire Float combo creates a glaze combination that highlights the contrast between warm metallic copper tones and flowing blue accents. This travel mug by Jennifer Meech demonstrates how a layered glaze application can produce distinct color transitions and movement on a white stoneware body.

Why Ancient Copper and Sapphire Float combo Works

Ancient Copper serves as the dominant glaze in this combination. Applied in three coats, it creates a copper-brown surface with darker areas where the glaze gathers. On a light clay body such as Laguna White Stoneware, these metallic tones remain clearly visible and provide a strong background for additional glaze effects.

Sapphire Float is lightly overlapped on top of Ancient Copper. Rather than completely covering the base glaze, it introduces blue tones that move during firing and collect in recesses and lower areas of the form. This creates a visible contrast between the warmer copper surface and the cooler blue overlays.

Because the Sapphire Float application is relatively light, the underlying Ancient Copper remains an important part of the final result rather than disappearing beneath the top layer.

Glaze Interaction and Firing Behavior

One of the most interesting aspects of this combination is the way the two glazes separate and overlap across different parts of the mug. On raised areas, Ancient Copper remains more dominant, while Sapphire Float tends to concentrate in vertical channels and textured sections where glaze movement naturally occurs.

The white Laguna stoneware body helps maintain clarity between the copper and blue colors. Darker clay bodies would likely produce a different visual balance and reduce some of the contrast visible in this test.

The Cone 6 firing with a three-minute hold provides enough heatwork for Sapphire Float to develop movement while still allowing Ancient Copper to remain visible beneath the overlap. The result is a combination that shows both color contrast and glaze layering without excessive running.

For potters interested in layering commercial glazes, this test demonstrates how a metallic copper glaze can be used as a base while a floating blue glaze adds secondary color and movement. The combination remains readable, making it easier to observe what each glaze contributes to the final surface.

Glaze Details

In this combination, Ancient Copper provides the primary color foundation while Sapphire Float contributes movement and blue highlights. Together they create a layered surface that clearly demonstrates how overlapping glazes can interact on a light stoneware body at Cone 6.

Credit: Jennifer Meech