1. Raku
a. History
i. Origins
Tile sculptor and potter Chojiro developed the raku technique during the Momoyama period in the 16th century. Chojiro was asked by tea master Sen no Rikyu to create tea bowls for the new restrained and simplified aesthetic style of Zen Buddhist tea ceremonies. Chojiro’s tea bowls used monochromatic glazes, typically black or red. The overall design aimed to eliminate variations of form, movement, and decoration. They also symbolized the aesthetics of wabi-sabi which were advocated by Sen no Rikyu. Chojiro’s raku tea bowls were hand-formed, as opposed to thrown on the wheel, which allowed him create truly unique and intimate pieces. Historically, raku referred to the spiritual, religious, philosophical, ceremonial, and functional characteristic of a specific for of ceramics. Sixteenth century Japanese raku was associated with a raku seal. For the contemporary American artist raku more often referred to the aesthetic, tactile, sensory, and non-functional. From a technical standpoint, raku can be defined as a …show more content…
For instance, there is a preponderance of black in both palettes, the Japanese version of this being known as ‘Black Seto’ after the area of that name; to achieve the black coloration the potters created a glaze from a mixture of a stone from the local river in Kyoto, and lead ore. Western Raku is black due to carbonization from the secondary reduction. Western Raku and the Japanses Red Raku ware are both porous. This gives poor thermal conductivity, ideal for holding tea; it also gives a strange quality to Western Raku because the objects often feel lighter than one expects, as the clay is not fused. Curiously neither Japanese nor Western Raku glazes are very well balanced from a chemist’s point of view; the decorative appearance and tactile qualities are considered to be more important (Jones
a. History
i. Origins
Tile sculptor and potter Chojiro developed the raku technique during the Momoyama period in the 16th century. Chojiro was asked by tea master Sen no Rikyu to create tea bowls for the new restrained and simplified aesthetic style of Zen Buddhist tea ceremonies. Chojiro’s tea bowls used monochromatic glazes, typically black or red. The overall design aimed to eliminate variations of form, movement, and decoration. They also symbolized the aesthetics of wabi-sabi which were advocated by Sen no Rikyu. Chojiro’s raku tea bowls were hand-formed, as opposed to thrown on the wheel, which allowed him create truly unique and intimate pieces. Historically, raku referred to the spiritual, religious, philosophical, ceremonial, and functional characteristic of a specific for of ceramics. Sixteenth century Japanese raku was associated with a raku seal. For the contemporary American artist raku more often referred to the aesthetic, tactile, sensory, and non-functional. From a technical standpoint, raku can be defined as a …show more content…
For instance, there is a preponderance of black in both palettes, the Japanese version of this being known as ‘Black Seto’ after the area of that name; to achieve the black coloration the potters created a glaze from a mixture of a stone from the local river in Kyoto, and lead ore. Western Raku is black due to carbonization from the secondary reduction. Western Raku and the Japanses Red Raku ware are both porous. This gives poor thermal conductivity, ideal for holding tea; it also gives a strange quality to Western Raku because the objects often feel lighter than one expects, as the clay is not fused. Curiously neither Japanese nor Western Raku glazes are very well balanced from a chemist’s point of view; the decorative appearance and tactile qualities are considered to be more important (Jones