Eiichi Kohiku Yunomi

I have sung Eiichi quite a few praises in the past, and this is no different.  My biggest issue is the size he choose for these pieces, as from everyone that got one of these in the Teachat Eiichi Commission Special Offer, has remarked on their large size.  It is less of an issue for me because I am incredibly fond of big cups of sencha, and this cup is a near perfect match for a kyusu I have in terms of size.

The glaze is certainly interesting I happen to go for one that showed "Grey Scars" as I like to call them.  Maybe because I am not sure I am fond of just the orange/ beige color strictly on its own.  The above picture shows my favorite feature of this cup, which has me thinking about affectionately naming it "Scar face".



Surprisingly through many cups of sencha this is still resisting any signs of staining, which I thought might occur quicker due to its many breaks and pits inside the glaze  ( pictured above).   If this stains anything like the Biwa I happen to have it will be a really interesting looker once the staining does start to take place, giving it an incredibly ancient look.

In terms of form and shape Eiichi did outstanding work, he let the glaze and the oni-hagi clay cause the wabi sabi effects of this piece, and otherwise threw a near perfect form for this cup, super straight walls, just minor ridges from formation spiraling up the sides. I always find those ridges are great to assist with gripping the cup. The cup looks nearly perfectly circular, and I bet I could set a piece of cardboard on the top of this cup, and it would hit nearly everywhere along the rim at once.  Unlike the woodfired Yunomi I got from Eiichi, the foot is immaculate.

Park Jong Il Teacup

I'm using this lovely little beauty right now, and it is quickly becoming my favorite teacup of its size. Its a pretty basic Korean style cup, except it has the added kiln effects, which are apparent in the above picture.  The kiln lead to "blemishes" in the appearance of the glaze leading to these blueish purple patches.   But of course me being me I absolutely love those little blemishes, I just wish somehow they managed to work their way all around the cup.




I am honestly not sure there is anything I do not like about this piece.  Lovely very pronounced and well cut foot. Rustic looking but well done glazing, and an absolutely amazing shape.  I think I may need to try and find some more pieces, by this wonderful artist.


While I am enjoying a Korean Tea, with Korean Teaware, I thought Korean music should be in order.

Excitement

A project of a year in the making, which sadly the most I participated in this offering was to be a "pre-commited" participant.  This is The Eiichi Commission  which at long last we have seen pictures, and given a name to the design of this project.  It is somewhat ground breaking in the sense that previously the glaze colors done by Eiichi have been White, White, White, and more White, either thick or thin, perfect coatings or crawling with cracks.  This project was given the name of Kohiku, which is the name for a somewhat traditional Hagi glaze style in which a bit of color change is aimed for after applying a slip glaze doing a Bisque fireing and then applying an over glaze and firing once more.

Photos can be found here, and as I am pre-committed I definitely will have one finding its way to me.   Those of you familiar with the styles of Yunomi's/ teacups that I like may already have a decent guess at what style(s) my hopeful choices were from.

I will say I was quite impressed with these pieces in general, although I am not overly fond of the bright orange color.  I am secretly hoping that these are telling pictures but not super accurate in terms of color, and that the color is actually a bit more neutral and passive in nature.  Although I would love to see how this fire-orange ages and progresses through the 7 stages of hagi with use.

Look forward to another post (or more) in the somewhat near future.