A
while back I threw several chawan and covered jars in stoneware neriage to see
how things progressed beyond relatively
small pieces. I got everything bisque and glazed and finally fired last Friday.
Other than a few small pinholes, the
results look good, the larger covered jars, water jars, came out rather nice
with a good degree of variation on the exterior surface. Where the iron rich
clay is, there is some nice dark, purple brown droozy effects which helps break
up the surface. The interior had a thicker coating of the iron yellow saffron
poured in and I am pleased with the results as the surface all runs down to
create a thick pool of glaze in the
bottom. I have always admired the neriage works of Kawai Kanjiro student, Ueda
Tsuneji and can not deny the irresistible influence of his pottery in this work
surface-wise.
The
chawan illustrated was dipped quickly in the saffron glaze and the pattern
turned out close to what I was after. The original intention for the neriage
pattern was continuous undulating ribbons running around the body of the bowl.
Though the pattern came out quite well, there are areas where the top or bottom
of the loop is open. I guess only continued practice will make perfect, but who
would want that anyway?
.JPG)