It’s not even 4 a.m., but the workday has already begun for Otto Heino. In the same blue-striped apron he’s worn for 50 years — he rinses it out each day but refuses to wash it — he will throw 15 or 20 pots or plates before breakfast. He’ll eat, exercise, and perhaps fire a few pieces in one of the nine kilns that sit outside his ranch-style home in Ojai, California.

He might take a drive in one of his luxury cars — he owns a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, and a Mercedes-Benz station wagon. Before day’s end, he’ll wedge 15 pieces of clay for the next day’s work and trim pots, glaze them, and complete the other tasks of his craft.

Heino minces no words when he says he has been called the wealthiest potter in the world, making $1 million a year. During an interview, he rapidly discloses the prices his works command: His advertised prices are $25,000, but for some pieces, he’s now asking, and getting, $35,000. He also sells a $150 paperweight.

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