My penguino is chirping for help!

November 27, 2009 2:59 PM

My ceramic pitcher is making a clicking noise even when left alone. What is going on?

I have a ceramic Penguino pitcher from Argentina that I was given as a present. I washed it and used it for the first time yesterday for Thanksgiving. Ever since then it has been making a clicking noise, every few minutes, even when sitting alone on the counter or shelf. The click sounds like someone is tapping the pitcher with a small pin; it is very sharp but faint.

I noticed that there are small cracks underneath the clear glaze, though the surface is still smooth and solid. I don't know if they were there before I used it.

I washed him by hand in the sink, though I may have used pretty hot water. I'm afraid that is the root of the problem, though I can't find anything online about it and I still don't know what to do.

Please help me solve this mystery. My penguino is chirping for help!

posted by AtomicBee to home & garden (5 answers total)

Outgassing, I would bet.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:20 PM on November 27, 2009

Pick it up. Is there a water ring underneath? (A damp line on the bottom lip of a pot often causes that noise.) If that's not it, then I would assume it is the glaze settling.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:22 PM on November 27, 2009

I have no idea why this happens, but it usually goes away after a few days.
posted by yohko at 6:10 PM on November 27, 2009

Sounds like the glaze on the outside of your pitcher is shrinking, causing it to crack in fine, hairlike lines, a condition where the glaze shrinks more than the clay it's on, resulting in "crazing" (the aforementioned hairlike lines.) On old Asian pottery, especially Chinese celadons, this is a desirable thing. On a pitcher you'll probably use often, not so much.
posted by motown missile at 11:40 PM on November 27, 2009

Given that it's happening after immersion in water, it may be contrariwise that the pitcher swells a little, more than the glaze, causing that same crazing.

Either way, it sounds like this pitcher would be better used for display.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:40 AM on November 28, 2009