Kemper Pottery Hand Tools

Located in the U.S.A., Kemper has handcrafted tools for the Ceramic Arts for over 50 years. It all started in 1947 when a friend asked Jack Kemper to make a tool for his class. Jack made his first ceramic tool in his garage in California. As you can guess, soon everyone wanted one of those tools. The first tool was functional and well constructed, however, Jack was just not satisfied and took his simple design and improved it with the intent of making it comfortable in the hand of the artist as well as a nice looking tool.

As Jack’s reputation grew, ceramists, sculptors and hobbyists turned to Jack for special tools. After studying tools from the early Romans, he was able to combine practical know how and a sense of design. Today, a few of the tools still resemble those of olden days; however, most do not have predecessors.