another pot collection

[WEI]

yet another pot collection to add to the forum library. I am in the nascent stages of pot addiction; here are some currently in my stead. some have trees and some don’t. I’ll update as more pots join the collection post-Japan trip.

starting off with a banger I acquired yesterday at Koju-en in Kyoto - an Ino Shukuho shohin mokko dressed in green and grey, his signature oribe glaze inspired and IMO surpassed only by Heian Tofukuji’s:







next are two Koyo shohin ovals in a Takatatori? namako? glaze. the running pattern and “snow cap” set the first apart in my eyes from many of his other works:






the second is more subdued in both shape and color, and the blue and brown complement each other well. the dripping glaze is quite nice:



a mame round from Sekisen, with clean lines and a clear attention to detail:



a 3-inch painted Tosui with a blue-green rim and feet depicting pines on a mountain, a temple, and scholars playing chess:



a newer ceramic by Kiyoshi Koiwai of the Fuka kiln, known for his skill in thin-walled glazed pots. this shohin round is a delicate and feminine pot all around with a wide lip in beautiful crystalline green, with both clusters of spots and running streaks. one of my favorites:





these are all shohin pots…more to come in larger sizes.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Beautiful start. Ino’s oribe glazes pots are among the best, and you found a great specimen there.
Namako = sea cucumber, and it’s the blue/brown/white speckled glaze on your Koyo pots above.
Takatori-you glaze is red, black, white/cream. It’s a Cantonese style and apparently difficult to produce. Here is an example by Tofukuji.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

a newer ceramic by Kiyoshi Koiwai of the Fuka kiln, known for his skill in thin-walled glazed pots. this shohin round is a delicate and feminine pot all around with a wide lip in beautiful crystalline green, with both clusters of spots and running streaks. one of my favorites:

View attachment 575702

View attachment 575703

these are all shohin pots…more to come in larger sizes.

This pot is absolutely awesome!! I love it. I love wide lipped pots. I recently had a larger one made on a commission which Im very happy with with a similar form for one of my trees.

 

[Attmos]

yet another pot collection to add to the forum library. I am in the nascent stages of pot addiction; here are some currently in my stead. some have trees and some don’t. I’ll update as more pots join the collection post-Japan trip.

starting off with a banger I acquired yesterday at Koju-en in Kyoto - an Ino Shukuho shohin mokko dressed in green and grey, his signature oribe glaze inspired and IMO surpassed only by Heian Tofukuji’s:

View attachment 575687

View attachment 575689

View attachment 575690

next are two Koyo shohin ovals in a Takatatori? namako? glaze. the running pattern and “snow cap” set the first apart in my eyes from many of his other works:

View attachment 575692

View attachment 575693

View attachment 575694
the second is more subdued in both shape and color, and the blue and brown complement each other well. the dripping glaze is quite nice:

View attachment 575695

a mame round from Sekisen, with clean lines and a clear attention to detail:

View attachment 575700

a 3-inch painted Tosui with a blue-green rim and feet depicting pines on a mountain, a temple, and scholars playing chess:

View attachment 575701

a newer ceramic by Kiyoshi Koiwai of the Fuka kiln, known for his skill in thin-walled glazed pots. this shohin round is a delicate and feminine pot all around with a wide lip in beautiful crystalline green, with both clusters of spots and running streaks. one of my favorites:

View attachment 575702

View attachment 575703

these are all shohin pots…more to come in larger sizes.

I read somewhere that pots should be glazed entirely, inside and out. Am I just not seeing the glaze inside, or is there no glaze?

 

[RJG2]

I read somewhere that pots should be glazed entirely, inside and out. Am I just not seeing the glaze inside, or is there no glaze?

Opposite - they should only be glazed on the outside, wrapping slightly over the inside edge.

 

[Attmos]

Opposite - they should only be glazed on the outside, wrapping slightly over the inside edge.

Water retention?

 

[RJG2]

Water retention?

Thread 'Question for potters...'

Jul 27, 2017

Is there a reason why, on a glazed pot, the inside of the pot is not glazed?

• Bonsai Nut
• Replies: 16
• Forum: Pot Making

 

[WEI]

Beautiful start. Ino’s oribe glazes pots are among the best, and you found a great specimen there.
Namako = sea cucumber, and it’s the blue/brown/white speckled glaze on your Koyo pots above.
Takatori-you glaze is red, black, white/cream. It’s a Cantonese style and apparently difficult to produce. Here is an example by Tofukuji.
View attachment 575704

stunner of a pot - that fluid interaction is wonderful. Tofukuji’s work is really something else and deservedly sits at the pinnacle of modern Japanese bonsai ceramics.

I’m a bit peeved though that the documentation of the classical chinese works that inspired Tofukuji’s most famous glazes and forms is very hard to find online. Kaede-en and Ryan Bell are the foremost authorities here, but neither of them have posted anything more than a few Kowatari containers (and usually not in their own collection).

two Kowatari from Ryan’s site outmatch every Japanese and Nakawatari namako I’ve seen thus far in pattern, color, and especially visual depth. would love to see more of these pop up in the west

 

[Attmos]

Thread 'Question for potters...'

Jul 27, 2017

Is there a reason why, on a glazed pot, the inside of the pot is not glazed?

• Bonsai Nut
• Replies: 16
• Forum: Pot Making

.......
Would have taken less time and effort to answer "yes" or "no".. but whatever.
Thanks, I guess.

 

[RJG2]

.......
Would have taken less time and effort to answer "yes" or "no".. but whatever.
Thanks, I guess.

Apologies for trying to be more helpful

@WEI sorry for the derail.

 

[Attmos]

Apologies for trying to be more helpful

@WEI sorry for the derail.

Sorry dude, I just enjoy personal interaction and conversation more than a dictionary.

I'm very capable of searching for this topic.

 

[WEI]

Juko at Koyo, Kakuzan, and the folks at Marutatu were very kind hosts. I acquired two pots for my own collection during my visit to Tokoname.

the first is a pristine, never-used kifu/chuuhin size deep Koyo in maroon-red oribe (!!). spot the streaky hint of green on the lip and the thick drip near the feet. the glaze shows off minute glimmers of pink, gold, and green iridescence when exposed to bright light. it is unlike any koyo glaze, and any oribe, I’ve ever seen. i have heard of the phenomenon where oribe starved of oxygen turns red, but usually red in an oribe glaze is flashes or at most a plurality of color on a pot - not the whole thing. if anyone else has seen a fully-red oribe, please do share. this variant has really piqued my curiosity.







the second, a shohin bigei rectangle with a dragon motif starting to show some patina. i love bigei’s attention to detail and this pot shows that off. it might pair well with the shukuho in a shohin display and would be well suited to a stout little pine or juniper.

 

[Wood]

if anyone else has seen a fully-red oribe, please do share. this variant has really piqued my curiosity.

That red Koyo is gorgeous! never seen something like it. From a ceramics POV, it's not particularly groundbreaking, though the effect here is absolutely stunning.

Copper in glaze recipes usually comes in the form of copper carbonate (CuCO₃). Electric kilns use resistive heating elements, just like a conventional oven to produce heat and copper produces a green color. Copper green glaze in an oxidation environment: https://glazy.org/recipes/6602

Flames in wood or gas kilns require oxygen to burn. After the kiln reaches temperature, the potter can restrict airflow into the kiln, starving the flame of oxygen. The flames then take oxygen elements out of the glaze itself, and strips off an O2 molecule off the CuCO₃ (I can't remember if the remaining CO also gets stripped off). That form of copper turns red in the final glaze color. Copper red in a reduction environment: https://glazy.org/recipes/6051

My impression was that almost all of Koyo's work was in an electric kiln, so this might be a random piece that he put in a gas kiln just for kicks. If a pot is reduction fired, usually you can see a "toastiness" to the unglazed clay in the pot -- that's the iron in the clay going through a similar reduction process. You can also check the bottom of the feet,

Random aside: you can simulate the reduction process in glazes by using silicon carbide. I don't quite know the chemical details of it, but it's fun and makes oxidation glazes more flexible. I've heard that it's a pain in the ass to use: https://glazy.org/recipes/338414

 

[JeffS73]

Nice, you've been on a roll! Maybe pick up some pot books, they can help.

The Chinese glazes are actually fairly limited, many were quite low-fire. The Japanese really expanded the glaze library by experimenting with the limited materials they had available.

Tofukuji experimented with layering glazes and had the benefit of various gas / wood kilns that gave dramatic kiln change effects, hugely expanding the possibilities.

That red koyo is fascinating! I also love that mokko namako pot on MRBs site, it's in the bonki 2 volume encyclopaedia of pots.

 

[JeffS73]

That red Koyo is gorgeous! never seen something like it. From a ceramics POV, it's not particularly groundbreaking, though the effect here is absolutely stunning.

Copper in glaze recipes usually comes in the form of copper carbonate (CuCO₃). Electric kilns use resistive heating elements, just like a conventional oven to produce heat and copper produces a green color. Copper green glaze in an oxidation environment: https://glazy.org/recipes/6602

Flames in wood or gas kilns require oxygen to burn. After the kiln reaches temperature, the potter can restrict airflow into the kiln, starving the flame of oxygen. The flames then take oxygen elements out of the glaze itself, and strips off an O2 molecule off the CuCO₃ (I can't remember if the remaining CO also gets stripped off). That form of copper turns red in the final glaze color. Copper red in a reduction environment: https://glazy.org/recipes/6051

My impression was that almost all of Koyo's work was in an electric kiln, so this might be a random piece that he put in a gas kiln just for kicks. If a pot is reduction fired, usually you can see a "toastiness" to the unglazed clay in the pot -- that's the iron in the clay going through a similar reduction process. You can also check the bottom of the feet,

Random aside: you can simulate the reduction process in glazes by using silicon carbide. I don't quite know the chemical details of it, but it's fun and makes oxidation glazes more flexible. I've heard that it's a pain in the ass to use: https://glazy.org/recipes/338414

It's tricky but doable, same for celadon. Copper Red is easier, celadon never quite as good as a reduction firing. The silicon carbide burns out, causing local reduction. You need a tiny amount of the ultra fine grade.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

if anyone else has seen a fully-red oribe, please do share. this variant has really piqued my curiosity.

Why are you calling it to oribe?

It's a beautiful pot. It's a glaze from Juko's repertoire, I've seen a few

oribe starved of oxygen turns red

I think the more common outcome for 'starved oribe' is purple, not red - here are 2 of mine, both Koyo

 

[Wood]

Why are you calling it to oribe?

I ran into a similar thing with Moss Gloss, a copper green (https://glazy.org/recipes/426080 it's my glaze recipe actually) that I put into the gas kiln just for kicks. It ended up a muddy/milky red that was decently close to the red Koyo. I'll see if I can find a photo

Are you sure that your three blue/purple examples are an oribe that's been fired in reduction? My hunch is that those are the classic oribe recipe with copper carbonate swapped for cobalt oxide. They seem incredibly close to these three, which are all fired in oxidation (1 / 2 / 3)

 

[NaoTK]

Just saw this glaze thread, why nobody call me? haha.

I wish I could just make glazes all day. Ino is my favorite and I made copies of everyone's glazes to study them. I own many Inos and have discussed his glazes with the Tokoname potters (they dont like him)

left is my fake koyo
then a tofukuji-like ash glaze
then my fake Ino
then my new glaze inspired by Ino


4000+ glazes under my belt


So with some amount of authority...

the first is a pristine, never-used kifu/chuuhin size deep Koyo in maroon-red oribe (!!).

We should all stop calling these blue/green crystal glazes oribe. Really annoys me. They are not technically traditional oribes but I understand that even the potters in Japan call them Oribe, although it is not true. The problem is people in America over-use the term to mean "crystalline" on bonsai auctions and what not.

WEI's red pot is indeed a heavily reduced copper glaze, but it is severely underfired. The calcium is not melted, except for the edge where it is becoming green. It will be transparent when fully melted, so this is like a "mistake" pot but beautiful non-the-less. Koyo does make reduced pots often, I own several.

The purples are indeed from Cobalt and or Manganese reacting with Magnesium

 

[JeffS73]

Great glazes Nao! Have you noticed how Koyos crystalline green glazes changed over time? I think he moved from titanium to zinc and latterly added Cobalt for the distinctive running blue patch. Not sure though, haven't replicated any very well yet.
Ikko's green crystalline also appears to be titanium driven.

What I'd really like to know is why the Tokoname potters don't like Ino?!

 

[NaoTK]

Great glazes Nao! Have you noticed how Koyos crystalline green glazes changed over time? I think he moved from titanium to zinc and latterly added Cobalt for the distinctive running blue patch. Not sure though, haven't replicated any very well yet.
Ikko's green crystalline also appears to be titanium driven.

What I'd really like to know is why the Tokoname potters don't like Ino?!

No , no , no and no. lol. There is no titanium, no cobalt. Why do you think there is titanium? That would opacify the glaze. I haven't played around with it

There is a long time feud between the Tokoname-based potters and the Kyoto-based. The Japanese potters are like the b-nut forum, lots of drama.