There is a new video up on the Karatsupots youtube channel. On it, I explain the process of glazing Chosen Karatsu ware, from applying the ame glaze, to trimming the ame, and subsequent application of the wara glaze.
There is a new video up on the Karatsupots youtube channel. On it, I explain the process of glazing Chosen Karatsu ware, from applying the ame glaze, to trimming the ame, and subsequent application of the wara glaze.
Gas kiln firing, 2020/03/16. Chosen Karatsu and Madara glazes. 3 types of Madara glaze from old buckets in which the exact contents were largely forgotten.
The normal madara glaze ended up being too low in silica, and going clear in most cases. Shirakawa madara pinholed in most cases. I’d forgotten about this behaviour. New Madara glaze test shows good color, but also, low in silica perhaps, needs more straw ash added (1kg).
Shida madara much too clear, only showed white where very thick. Maybe miscalculated when mixing the glaze? Add more Shida (2kg?) to overall batch. Test again.
Madara (mottled) Karatsu teabowl, late 1500’s.
When I decided to learn and make Karatsu ware, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I knew it was several hundred years old, and the first glazed ware in Japan, but I mostly just saw some beautiful pots and thought I could reproduce. Boy, was I wrong.
I’ve been working at it for more than 10 years now, and the clay, glazes, and firings are still mostly a mystery. Trying to capture the look of the traditional ware is a continual challenge, forcing me to forget or ignore modern technology in favor of archaic, and examine 400+ year old shards, searching for clues about what the old potters and craftsmen used, and how they approached their art, which they didn’t necessarily consider to be art.
The closest I’ve come yet to a surface like the pot at the beginning of this post.
One thing I’ve learned in this time making pots is that despite the primitive technology, ancient potters had knowledge about their materials and handling of those materials that far exceeds the knowledge of most modern potters. This is what makes tradition such an important repository for us. It is the best of what has come before, proven over time and distilled for us to use. We just need to pay attention.
Chosen Karatsu teabowl, late 1500’s
Chosen Karatsu guinomi by author
Cheers,
Karatsupots
Mike @ Karatsupots
Making attractive, cool, useful stuff out of dirt since 2006.
I made a trip out to the mountains in Minamihata yesterday with my mentor to collect materials for pots and glazes, and we stopped by an old kiln site as well.
We were able to collect a good amount of feldspathic sandstone, weathered feldspar, and the ever popular grey stuff (don’t know what its real name is).
First, here is what we collected that will become pots and glazes this year:
On the way to one of the collecting sites, we passed two old Karatsu kilns, Fujinokawachi and Kayanotani. I was surprised because they are separated by no more than 70 meters or so. These were big kilns. Kayanotani was a 22 chamber climbing kiln 52 meters long! Between them, there were probably hundreds of potters working. We couldn’t really access Fujinokawachi, but we were able to walk around on the hill where Kayanotani once stood.
This firing of the kiln went too long, resulting in Orton cone 11 flat. Ideally, it would be cone 11 touching, then sagging a bit.
Upon unloading the kiln this morning, one thing was immediately apparent: the right side was far more reduced than the left. Yellower glazes and more slumping. Even on the left side there was some slumping, because of the excessive temp., and because of the clay which contained some low temp high iron clay to help seal the ware against leakage.
Chosen Karatsu came out pretty good, but the white was on too heavy, running down the pots too much. It still came out looking ok because of the clay.
Most of the teabowls warped or sagged, so I only get to keep 2 or 3 of the 15. This is why teabowls are expensive, kids…
All in all, not a bad firing, but need to adjust clay bodies, and pay closer attention to cones. Also, figure out the over reduction on the right side. It might be that one burner that sounds a bit off.
was a real nail biter. At 4am, 10 hours into the firing, I realized that I had not gauged my propane reserves properly, when I looked at the tanks and realized that they were only about 1/5 full and covered with a thick layer of ice. I immediately put the water hose on them to melt the ice and keep them from freezing again, then I chewed my nails until 8:30 am when I could finally call the gas company for fresh tanks. They arrived just after 9am, and good thing to because I only had about 2 inches of fuel left in the tanks at that point.
The firing ran a total of about 18 hours, which is fairly normal for this type of firing, and most things came out ok, with a few exceptions: