The Raku Firing Process
To fully understand the Raku Firing Process, one would have to delve into and study Japanese culture. Raku is deeply associated and intertwined with the ancient Japanese tea ceremony. Serving and drinking tea using Raku fired bowls is an age old “happening” that is still performed in some areas of Japan. Tradition, religion, attitude and philosophy of life are all integral parts of the process. Earth, Fire, Air, our “beings” in the Universe, etc. Heavy and heady stuff ! Go surf the net to learn more! The Raku process , American style, was popularized in the sixties and seventies by potters like Paul Solder, Rogier Donker, Pete Lukashik and others .
The Raku Firing Process is basically very simple : a piece of clay (made more shock resistant by the addition of saw dust) is formed into a vessel of some sort. The piece is dried and then glazed. More often than not Raku glazes will contain a lot of copper that will render the fired pieces, green, red, blue and all kinds of shades in between. Basically the process involves a so called “envelope” kiln, that can be raised and lowered over the pieces to be fired. Once the pieces are dried, they are glazed and placed in the kiln. The temperature is rather quickly run up to about 1800-2000 degrees Fahrenheit and then the kiln is raised, revealing red hot pieces standing there. Long tongs are used to grasp a red hot piece that is then placed in a bucket containing combustible materials ,like dried grass, leaves, newspaper and/or straw. As soon as the red hot piece comes in contact with the combustible materials, spontaneous combustion occurs. Smoke and fire everywhere....As the piece buries itself ,burning, into the combustible material the lid is slammed onto the can and the fire, in order to keep burning, then removes the oxygen from the glaze and claybody of the piece. The result is a blackened clay body and very interesting colors on the piece. Depending on the type of combustible materials, the glaze composition and the time in the can, no two pieces of Raku will ever be the same. After a while the piece ( now about 500 degrees) is removed from the can and submerged into a bucket of water to cool it and “set” the colors. This last step will either break the piece, or it will survive and be beautiful forever.......
The pottery obtained by the American raku process, is always quite porous and because of the thermal shocks involved in the process, the glaze is often cracked and/or pitted. As per Japanese tradition the Raku pots are shipped and stored in decorative wooden boxes made to the exact measurements of the individual piece. Raku pots are, by their creative process and their very nature only for decorative purposes and are not intended to be used for food or drink!
6” - 8” tall , 3”-4” diameter Raku piece in decorative wooden box (please specify oak, walnut or poplar wood) with brass closures and protective, decorative corners. Allow 6 weeks for delivery , purchase price includes shipping, as well as a floppy containing the pictorial history of the creation of a Raku piece. $148.50