HAGI-SEN JAPANESE TEA BOWL PURPLES

These tea bowls are works of art. Each one is different due to the hand made process. The art of Hagi pottery was developed by the artisans in 1604. Initially, the special firing technique was only used for the production of rice husks. Because of ever-increasing popularity in the pursuit of the aesthetics of the imperfect and the simple, the Hagi-Yaki pottery was in demand by tea masters all over Japan. Since then, Hagi-Yaki has become an integral part of Japanese tea culture. In the production of Hagi-Yaki ceramics, four different types of quartz/kaolin and iron are used to create mixed tones. Due to the special clay mixture and glaze, which has a high proportion of wood ash, the blue, pink, grey and orange colour nuances arise. The individual glaze effects are created during the twenty-hour firing process at a heat of up to 1400°C in Hagi's kilns. During use of the drinking vessels, tannins settle in the pores of the ceramic and emphasise the popular crackle pattern which gradually becomes more apparent. Also characteristic of the Hagi pottery is the foot ring of the vessels. Before firing a small triangle is cut out of the bottom of the vessel. So the trained eye could see the processed tones to recognise and distinguish the original from the counterfeit. This is in shades of purple.