Firing Technique information

NERIAGE AND NERIKOMI AND MISHIMA TECHNIQUES

NERIAGE - Neri is a root word meaning "to mix" and age is a root word meaning to "pull up."

This refers to the pulling up action in throwing clay on a wheel, hence neriage refers to wheel work with colored clays. Functional

NERIKOMI - Komi means "to press into," as in pressing clay slabs into a mold. Nerikomi thus means hand-building with colored clay, which in Japan I guess usually meant mold work. It has been expanded to include other methods of hand-building."

Neriage and nerikomi both use either naturally occurring colored clays or light-colored clays that are specifically stained to satisfy the artist's color requirement. Neriage, or agateware, is done by laminating different colored clays together and throwing them on a wheel to develop a swirling and spiraling blend of the clays.

Objects made this way can be left with the swirl pattern, or altered by various forms of cutting the surface, with fluting and faceting. Balls of laminated clays are best left covered in a plastic sheet so amelioration can take place.

Cutting across the grain of laminated clays will expose an infinite variety of random patterns. The type of pattern can be controlled both by the thickness of the layers and by how the laminations are placed when thrown on the wheel. If they are vertical to the wheel head, they likely will produce fine, lacy patterns. If they are placed horizontally, much bolder patterns can be expected. If placed diagonally, a combination of both bold and lacy patterns might be expected.

MISHIMA - MISHIMA ceramics comes from the Japanese Island of Mishima, but it was originally transported from Korea around the 16th century. This surface design technique is a way of drawing by inlaying a slip or soft clay of contrasting color or colors into lines or shapes incised in leather-hard clay.

This example has both Neriage and Mishima work. Functional

RAKU FIRING This rapid spontaneous method of glazing and firing was created in Japan in the 16th century. Although traditional Raku glazes are soft and subdued contemporary Raku potters use a variety of surfaces and glazes in a wide color range, including metallic luster. In American or western Raku, the piece is fired and then immersed in combustible material such as: wood chips, leaves, hay etc. The chamber is then covered. The resulting oxygen reduction atmosphere turns the unglazed clay black. The pot is then removed and cooled. Sometimes the work plunged into cold water for quick cooling. The word "Raku" means "felicity or happiness". In Japanese Raku, the work is quickly fired and removed from the kiln still white hot. It is then usually placed on a stone or the ground to cool. Very coarse clay is used and the unglazed clay areas are usually black, red brown or white. Traditionally the pieces fired in this way were used in great part, for the Zen tea ceremony.

In order to withstand the thermal shock of this rapid heating and cooling process, sand or grog (ground fired clay) is mixed with the clay making it very porous, delicate and unsuitable for liquids or food. The pieces created from this process are strictly aesthetic statements.

Firing in this manner leads to exciting and variable results. Copper mattes especially will tend to loose some of the bright color over the years, changing slightly until they acquire a patina similar to traditional Raku glazes (oriental) soft and subdued...They are like living things. They mellow and age gracefully if taken proper care of. They should not be placed in direct sunlight and the surface should only be cleaned with a soft brush. Understanding the process and how the pottery ages will add to your appreciation of contemporary Raku work. Glazes, after all, are only part of the statement. The craftsmanship, form, balance, proportion, surface and composition as well as color make the entire piece work. Non-functional decorative use only

Sagger, Pit, smoking and other alternative and primitive techniques.

These techniques often confused with Raku firing usually have no glaze applied but rely on surface treatment and the fire to give them color and texture.

SAGGER FIRED, PIT FIRED, HORSE HAIR AND NAKED RAKU VESSELS have no glaze on the surface of the piece. These pieces are created either on the wheel or in traditional ways, i.e. hand building: coils or pinching. As in ancient times, some of this work is painstakingly burnished by hand with a smooth stone or piece of metal. The process is one of intense labor. For burnished (polished work) when close to the dry state the piece is polished with a smooth stone, or piece of metal. This is done several times being careful not to damage or finger print the surface. When the piece is completely dry, It is completed using one of more of the following techniques: click HERE for printable PDF Document on sagger firing

SAGGER FIRING

Sagger pieces are fired twice. The first is a (bisque). The second firing is done in the Sagger, that is, a container filled with minerals, wood shavings etc. Sometimes the piece is wrapped in seaweed or other materials to get color. Salt is added to the Sagger along with other materials in the attempt to get an interesting surface. The Sagger is placed in a fuel burning kiln in my case a gas kiln and fired to about 1800 degrees. Every piece is different Most pots are fired several times to satisfy the artist. This of course adds to the problem of breakage. Loss and damage rates are high. These pieces are extremely fragile. Non-functional decorative use only

PIT FIRING

is the oldest known method for the firing of pottery. Unfired pots are nestled together in a pit in the ground and are then covered with combustible materials such as wood shavings, leaves, metal oxides, salts, sawdust and dried manure. The top of the pit may be protected with moist clay, shards, larger pieces of wood or metal baffles. The filled pit is then set on fire and carefully tended until most of the inner fuel has been consumed. At around 1,100°C (2,000°F) the maximum temperatures are moderate compared to other techniques used for pottery. After cooling, pots are removed and cleaned to reveal patterns and colors left by ash and salt deposits. Pots are waxed and buffed to create a smooth glossy finish.

BARREL FIRING is similar: The pots are loaded under wood and or sawdust and oxides in a barrel. The top is lit and slowly burns down smoking the vessels inside. They are removed when cool. Non-functional decorative use only

HORSE HAIR FIRING

Legend holds that horsehair pottery was discovered by a pueblo potter whose long hair blew against a piece of pottery she was removing from a hot kiln, stuck, and carbonized. The result was so interesting that she duplicated it with hair from a horse's tail. The commonality that links all horse hair and feather meanings in many cultures is that using or wearing them, is a symbol for peace and tranquility. Horse hairs spiritual meaning offers a connection with divine energy and reinforces the spiritual power of the individual. It is believed to be a constant reminder of the person needing to remain in harmony with nature and the higher energy found in all elements. My current work in this medium combines Western Raku techniques with the application of horse hair and other materials, such as turkey feathers and plants during the firing. Each piece of pottery is handmade by me on the pottery wheel using white stoneware or porcelain clay body. The bisque pots are loaded into the Raku kiln and the temperature is brought up to approximately 1200 degrees. The pots are then carefully removed, one at a time and the horsehair and or feathers are applied to the extremely hot pot. They Instantly start to vaporize on the surface of the pot, squiggling and dancing around the surface of the piece, painting it's image on the pot, leaving behind carbon black fossil like marks. No two pieces are ever alike. Non-functional decorative use only

NAKED RAKU FIRING

"Naked Raku" is an interesting term for this unglazed pot. There is no glaze applied to these pieces. This work is usually wheel thrown from white stoneware or porcelain. After a bisque firing, it is dipped in a special slip, glazed, dried and fired. The slip cracks and when the piece is reduced in the reduction chamber. The smoke enters the cracks. During cleaning the surface slip is removed revealing the pattern beneath.

Non-functional decorative use only

OBVARA FIRING

Obvara (Ab-Vara, or so I'm told) is a 19th-20th century Belarusian technique involving scalding the finish on the pottery to seal the porous surface. The bisqued piece is heated to approx 1650 F and removed and dunked into the Obvara mixture (Flour, yeast and water) and then dunked in water to rapidly cool the piece. The pieces range from off white to almost black with speckles. It does a good job of sealing the surface, but they are still not for water or food. They, like all Smoked works, are for decorative use only. Non-functional decorative use only

The information below referees to the origins of the word Raku and its traditional Japanese associations.

In the 15th century Japanese monks came to Joseon, Korea and stayed in a special area for Japanese traders. During their stay they visited many Buddhist temples in Korea. The Japanese tea house is very similar to the humble Korean style tea house of the Joseon dynasty, and this is no doubt as a result of the influence received from Japanese visitors to Korea such as these monks. Also many monks in Joseon fled to Japan because the Confucian Joseon court did not support them, and tried to remove many Buddhist temples. This two-way exchange of Korean influence was an important influence in the development of the Japanese tea tradition.

In the 16th century, Sen Rikyū, the Japanese tea master, was involved with the construction of the Jurakudai and had a tile-maker, named Chōjirō, produce hand-moulded tea bowls for use in the wabi-styled tea ceremony that was Rikyū's ideal. The resulting tea bowls made by Chōjirō were initially referred to as "ima-yaki" ("contemporary ware") and were also distinguished as Juraku-yaki, from the red clay (Juraku) that they employed. Hideyoshi presented Jokei, Chōjirō's son, with a seal that bore the Chinese character for raku.^[1] Raku then became the name of the family that produced the wares. Both the name and the ceramic style have been passed down through the family (sometimes by adoption) to the present 15th generation (Kichizaemon). The name and the style of ware has become influential in both Japanese culture and literature.

Raku ware (楽焼 raku-yaki^?) is a type of Japanese pottery that is traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony, most often in the form of tea bowls. It is traditionally characterized by being hand shaped rather than thrown; fairly porous vessels, which result from low firing temperatures; lead glazes; and the removal of pieces from the kiln while still glowing hot. In the traditional Japanese process, the fired raku piece is removed from the hot kiln and is allowed to cool in the open air or in a container filled with combustible material. Raku techniques have been modified by contemporary potters worldwide. Raku means "enjoyment", "comfort" or "ease" and is derived from Jurakudai, the name of a palace, in Kyoto, that was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598), who was the leading warrior statesman of the time.

The firing techniques below are Western variations and additions to the original process above. We have borrowed the "Raku" name as a sort of catch all descriptive word for these primitive, alternative techniques.

More information on Classic Japanese Raku - Courtesy of Wally Asselbergh.

In this firing technique, the glaze is not allowed to cool. After applying the glaze, the kiln is fired quite rapidly to the melting point of the glaze that is usually quite low, around 850 to 900 degrees Celsius. Then the object is removed from the kiln with tongs, and allowed to cool off in the open air, or it is quenched in water. Because of the temperature shock, the molten glaze will pass very quickly from the state of melted, liquid glass to a solid state. As a result, the glaze will shrink much quicker than the clay object underneath, and the glaze will "crack", and create a pattern of irregular lines called ‘cracquelé’. (crackle) The clay used for this technique is also different: in order to be able to withstand the temperature shock, the clay must contain some materials which make it porous and more fire-proof: sand, grog, fireclay, talc, malachite, etc.... Japanese Raku dates back to the 15th-16th Century, where it could develop itself during more than 400 years. In the beginning it was mainly used to produce drinking cups for the Japanese tea ceremony. Tannin, a dark colorant found in tea, filled up the cracks, so that a more profound crackle pattern developed when the drinking cups were used regularly. Raku was also related to the Zen philosophy. Bernard Leach, a famous potter from the United Kingdom, studied the technique for many years, and introduced it in Europe around 1911. He continued to use the pure Japanese technique.

Capricious control: Sagger-Firing - author Dick Lehman

"Sagger" is a term used for any structure which encloses a pot during firing: it could refer to a large lidded pot which encloses a smaller pot. Even an enclosure of stacked bricks with a kiln-shelf "lid" would qualify as a "sagger". In earlier times when kilns were fired with "dirty-burning" wood or coal, saggers were used to protect the pots from the undesirable residue of the combustion process. With the advent of cleaner-burning fuels, the necessity for saggers diminished. More recently potters have again begun to use saggers - but in a way exactly opposite their original intent: instead of using saggers to protect pots from an outside atmosphere, potters now utilize saggers to encapsulate pots within a very specialized atmosphere.

My approach to sagger firing is to wrap pots in fresh vegetation and place them in the sagger on their sides, atop a bed of sawdust. I then cover the pot entirely with sawdust and place the lid on the sagger. During the firing, due to the presence of heat and pressure - and due to the relative absence of oxygen — the vegetation turns to "activated charcoal", and in the process, releases a film of carbon.

When everything works just right, the film of carbon penetrates the porous porcelain pot. The images you see on the pots are the result of that "carbon transfer". (Paleontologists have told me that this process is very similar to the fossil-formation process called "Carbonization". or "Carbon Film Transfer".)

This approach to sagger firing is capricious and rather uncontrollable, and the losses high. As in the production of fossils in nature, all the ubiquitous variables must precisely coincide to create these marvelous sagger fired images. Yet I find that the best results make the pursuit worth the losses.

VESSEL CARE

Like all fine art these vessels should not be exposed to strong light and. They should be kept dusted and occasionally buffed (Burnished pieces) with a soft brush and a soft rag in order to clean and refurbish the wax that has been applied to maintain the burnish. All primitive techniques are fragile and not waterproof. flowers or plants may be inserted in a water tight glass or plastic container preventing contact with the fragile surface.

Follow this link to watch a short video on burnished vessels Burnished vessel Video

Returns: Please contact me via Email if dissatisfied with your purchase. You may return it for your full purchase price. (Shipping charges are not refundable.) Buyer pays all shipping and packing charges. I usually ship USPS Priority mail - insured.

I am continually updating and adding to my web site. Check often for new additions and links.

Click on each pot below for more information on that artist and the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

	Traditional Tea bowls
"Chidori" by Kichizaemon Raku	"Muichimotsu" by Chohjiroh Raku	"Fujiyama" by Kohetsu Honami
	Contemporary Raku and Smoked Work
Ron Mello	Steven Branfman	Charlie & Linda Riggs