A Collection of Yunomi for Christmas. A Christmas present for the pot loving person in your life.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamy column, and the cups, That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
So wrote the poet William Cowper in 1785….his thoughts of tea drinking conjuring a warm, cosy picture of domesticity….the hot tea a defence against the cold of an 18th century winter evening. The yunomi or tea cup is a small, personable pot easily held in the hand and the warmth of its contents is a comforting sensation. As one turns the cup one can feel the textures of its surface….the form, the foot ring all provide an experience quite unlike a finger through a handle. It has often been said that the yunomi, while not large in scale, can embody the style and personality of a maker while, at the same time, reflecting the passing phases and interests of a potters unending creative endeavour as they change and develop. As pots go the yunomi is toward the lower end of the price scale and, lets face it, take up little space…a consideration for many people. It’s little wonder that collectors of contemporary ceramics often assemble collections of yunomi I make a lot of yunomi…often, as I keep an open mind, ideas that emerge while making a batch of yunomi can be transferred to larger pieces. Sometimes, ideas don’t work and a pot can be returned to the clay bin to be recycled…one of the advantages of making a series of smaller pieces…and so it is that I use the yunomi as a way of trying new decorative techniques in throwing or glazing and in turn they have an effect on the whole of my making. Here, in this new catalogue, I have assembled 40 of the best yunomi from recent firings. I have used three kilns in preparing these cups….my two chamber wood fired kiln, the large oil kiln and a small gas kiln. My salt kiln remains unused for the past 8 years but I intend reviving it in the spring so stay tuned! Each yunomi is individually priced but I will pay the postage within the UK. So as not to disadvantage overseas buyers I will deduct from overseas postage an amount equivalent to UK postage. Packing is free. I have a limited number of wooden boxes on which I can draw a representation of the yunomi, sign and stamp. Wooden boxes are £10.00 on a first come, first served basis. Please email me with the number or numbers to reserve your choice. I will deal with orders strictly in order of emails arriving and I apologise in advance if your first choice has already gone. I will update the catalogue as often as I can.
PR1
A Shino glaze and wood fired Yunomi with a central strap. 4.25 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR2
A yunomi with a paddled pattern. Nuka and Tenmoku glazes.
I enjoy using a variety of different paddles during the throwing to create surface pattern in the soft clay. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR3. Ash glazed yunomi with an incised and impressed pattern. I like that lines running around a pot whether inside or out, are not uniform in width or horizontal level. A line that starts thin‌gets thicker before thinning again at the end while finishing lower or higher than it started‌to me‌seem more interesting and lend movement to the pot. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR4
A Yunomi taking inspiration from the Korean Bunchong style.
I have always admired the pottery from 15th and 16th century Korea. Bunchong ceramics were based upon dark, iron rich clay, white slip and a clear, often pale green glaze. I have been working to achieve the right clay body for my own version for the past 4 years in my wood kiln. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR5 A Yunomi with thick white slip and an incised pattern. Ash glaze. I have made a number of these yunomi but each one is different. The hand has its own will and because I work quickly and without hesitancy there is always variety in the marks. My ash glazes require marks, lines, ridges and textures to bring them to life. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR6
A Yunomi with a central strap. Tenmoku glaze.
I deliberately introduce a ‘wave’ into the central strap. I believe that the undulating line adds movement, interest and energy to the form. 3.75 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR7 Yunomi. Tenmoku and Nuka glazes. I particularly like this yunomi. I like the way the glaze has broken on the combed lines and the colour of the thinner than usual Nuka glaze. Tenmoku is a glaze of real depth and richness when it is applied and fired perfectly. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR8 A Yunomi with a combed surface. The pine ash glaze which has been my most used glaze for almost 35 years takes on a fresh and even more beautiful green hue when fired in the wood kiln. I think it is something to do with the constant ‘in and out’ of reduction as the kiln is stoked with new wood. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR9 Yunomi with Hakeme and iron brush pattern. Hakeme is the Japanese word that describes the brushing of white slip onto the clay surface. Originally a Korean means of ensuring adhesion of the slip and called in Korea ‘Guiyal’ it became a decorative treatment both in Korea and Japan and especially admired by Japanese tea masters who, in the first instance, adopted Korean rice bowls as Chawan for the tea ceremony. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR 10
A Yunomi with Hakeme and incised pattern.
I make this ash glaze with a stone dust from a quarry in Kington about 20 miles away from Rhayader. The stone has an iron content of around 6% which lends the glaze the olive colour. I love the way it pools in the hollows and changes colour and texture. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR11 A Yunomi with Hakeme and iron brush pattern. A Yunomi similar to PR9. Hakeme or, more correctly, Guyial with iron pigment brush pattern. 3.75 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR12 A Yunomi with an impressed pattern. A very minimalist landscape with perhaps a bird or maybe a fish?? 3.8 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR13 A Yunomi with Tenmoku and Nuka glazes. Nuka is a glaze made with a very large proportion of wood ash‌about 1/3. Depending on the ash the glaze can vary in colour even when the recipe is exactly the same. Sometimes, as in this case, the glaze can be bluish and other times a creamy off white. It is impossible to tell what will happen until the glaze is fired. 3.74 inches tall. £95.00
PR14 A yunomi with an incised and impressed pattern. This wood fired yunomi illustrates very well the point I made in the description of PR3. Lines that begin thin and then become heavier finishing at a point lower or higher than they started. 4.2 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR15 A shino glazed Yunomi. Wood fired. I have used a dark, iron rich clay and then dipped the pot into a white slip. After biscuit firing I have carefully sanded away the slip from the high points of the paddled pattern to reveal the clay underneath. The iron rich clay then burns its way into the glaze to create this almost three dimensional effect. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR16 Yunomi with Nuka glaze. A wood fired yunomi with Nuka glaze. Sometimes the least is enough‌. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR17 Wood fired Yunomi. My own version of Shigiraki clay made from English materials and based upon the accumulative analyses of 20 Shigiraki clays. The Nuka glazes often have this beautiful crystal growth when fired in the wood kiln. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR18 A wood fired shino glazed yunomi. I find that, for me at least, the best results with Shino glazes come from the wood kiln when used over iron bearing clays. Here‌I have used a thick white slip under the glaze to give a variegated surface colour. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR19 A wood fired Yunomi. I have coated the yunomi with a thin layer of a locally dug red clay. Then‌after biscuit firing I have used a ladle to pour the Nuka glaze onto the surface. The iron from the clay slip has affected the colour of the Nuka lending a yellow hue. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR20 Yunomi. Ash glaze. I see this as a landscape‌trees in front of an undulating horizon. The Pine ash glaze emphasises the impressed pattern and pools in the line above. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR21 Yunomi in the Bunchong style. A white slip underneath a clear glaze is contrasted with the dark, iron rich clay body. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR22 A Yunomi with a combed pattern. The green that I get from my pine ash glaze never ceases to amaze me‌the alchemy of the reduction kiln!!! Here, I have poured Nuka glaze three times around the cup. 4 inches tall. £95.00
PR23 Ash glazed Yunomi. I have used two different ash glazes on this yunomi. Inside is a glaze made from Elm ash and on the outside an ash glaze made by combining ash with stone dust from a local quarry. 3.75 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR24 A wood fired Yunomi. I love the way the wood fire creates a contrast between the toasted warmth of the unglazed clay body and the emerald green of the glaze. 3.75 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR25 A smaller Yunomi with Nuka glaze. The Nuka glaze at its best (I think!) This yunomi is smaller than average. 3.5 inches. ÂŁ70.00
PR26 A yunomi with a combed pattern. A visitor to the pottery brought me two large sacks of Elm ash that had been sitting in a garden shed for 30 years. The light blue/green of the elm ash contrasts with the olive colour of the ash/local stone glaze. 4.3 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR27 Shino Yunomi. A shino glazed yunomi with a paddled pattern. 3.6 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR28 Wood fired Yunomi. Firing with wood is very hard work. The effort required to move, cut and stack the wood…16 tons at a time…..to stoke the kiln continuously for 36 hours is a demanding way to fire. However, when things go well its worth all the effort. The effects of the wood fire are unachievable in any other firing. The subtleties of colour and texture as the flame leaves its imprint are often quite magical and sometimes quite awful!! 3.6 inches tall. £95.00
PR29 Wood fired Yunomi. This yunomi illustrates very well the way the flame and ash in the wood kiln affect the clay surface in a wonderful way. If everything comes together perfectly, the clay, the glaze, the reduction, the temperature‌ the combined effect can be quite luscious. 3.1 inches tall. £65.00
PR30 A Yunomi with an impressed pattern. Another yunomi that relies upon a deeply textured surface and ridges to provide the canvas for the ash glaze to work its magic. 3.7 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR31. A faceted Yunomi. By using a clay body rich in iron I have encouraged the edges of the facets to burn through the shino glaze. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR32 A Faceted Yunomi. I have used a roller to emphasise the cut edges to the facets. By carefully rolling first one side and then the other the effect is to raise the edge and create a beaded rib. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR33. Yunomi with combing. The Japanese would call this glaze Ame‌a glaze reminiscent of treacle. The inside is pine ash and there are Nuka pours. 4.2 inches tall. £95.00
PR34. Faceted Yunomi. Another faceted yunomi similar to PR32 although a different shino glaze. I find that shino glazes benefit from the wood firing and a sandy clay body that encourages the texture as the thick glaze dries onto the freshly dipped pot. On this piece I have combed the raised edges to the facets. 4.2 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR35 An ash glazed yunomi with a combed pattern. Pine ash and elm ash combined. I always tend to put the lighter coloured glaze inside as I feel the inside needs illuminating. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR36
Ash glazed Yunomi.
A wood fired Yunomi with a stamped pattern. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR37 Kohiki Yunomi. Another yunomi relying on white slip over a dark clay and a clear glaze. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR38 Kohiki Yunomi. Similar to PR37 this yunomi is inspired by the Korean Bunchong and what the Japanese would call Kohiki. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR39 Shino glazed Yunomi. Another yunomi with a central strap. The strap is a device I use often to introduce movement into a form by undulating the lines. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00
PR40 Wood fired Yunomi with a combed pattern. One can clearly see on this yunomi which side was facing toward the fire in the wood kiln. The fluxing action of vapour and ash has resulted in a soft, glazed sheen while the leeward side is less fluxed and a red/orange colour. 4 inches tall. ÂŁ95.00