A Secret Shared

        translated from the French
        by Brother Anthony, of Taize
 
 

Brother Daniel de Montmollin was one of the first men to join Brother Roger at the beginning of the ecumenical Community of Taize, in France, in the 1940s.

Although he had studied theology, soon after coming to Taize he came in contact with a potter making simple kitchenware in the traditional way in the nearby town of Cluny. He learned the basics of the potter's craft from him, then went on to become an artist-potter working in stoneware, following the lines laid down in Bernard Leach's The Potter's Book. In particular, he has done much research into the role of vegetable ashes and their chemical equivalents in the production of stoneware glazes.

The Secret Shared was published in France in 1990 with the title Le Secret Partage. It went out of print and was published in 1999 by La Revue de la Ceramique et du Verre  in a revised and enlarged edition, under the title Le Jardin du Potier. The cover of this edition is illustrated above. Both editions are superbly illustrated, including a large number of full-page photos of pots with the extraordinary glazes Brother Daniel has produced as a result of his research. It is possible to purchase the various books by Brother Daniel directly from La Revue de la Ceramique et du Verre, through the "livres" link on their home page, as well as his splendid 2003 double video, Le Chaos fertile.

Each of the four sections ends with a series of simple haiku poems inspired by the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

Part One. Palissy's Secret

Part Two. All for an oil spot!

Part Three. The Gousseau glaze

Part Four. Creation: Victory over Chaos

Pictures of some of Brother Daniel's pots

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