25 Yunomi for Christmas
For the second of my themed on-line exhibitions here is a selection of 25 of my best yunomi from recent firings any of which would make a great Christmas present for the collector in your life or just as a present to yourself!
Originally an every day drinking cup in the East the yunomi has become something of a measure of good potting in the West. I have heard it said that the yunomi can represent the style and personality of its maker encapsulated in one small form. Collectors of studio pottery enjoy the scale of the pot and the personal almost intimate feeling that it provides cradled in the hands with a warm drink inside. Collectors often put together a collection of yunomi which are easily displayed and take up little space.
I enjoy making yunomi. I love the way that ideas are quickly expressed and the way in which I can introduce variation. New ideas in surface treatment are sometimes translated to larger pieces but begin as experiments on the smaller scale yunomi. I love the way a minor change in proportion or orchestration can affect the way in which the form is read. I want my yunomi to be pleasing to the eye… to feel comfortable in the hand…and to provide a pleasant tactile experience as it is used.
The collector and gallery owner Paul Rice, in his book ‘British Studio Ceramics’ wrote…
‘….his tea bowls, I think, are the nicest to use of any British potter’s working today’
I hope you enjoy this selection of recent cups. I have tried to put together a collection that illustrates the variety of what I try to do. Each piece is the same price and includes packing and postage. I will deduct £5.00 from the actual cost of postage to overseas clients so as not to disadvantage you.
Don’t forget to click on the image to find a larger, crisper version and then click again for a super sized image.
PRY1 Wood fired Yunomi.
A wood fired Yunomi with my pine ash glaze over the top portion. The lower area has been coloured by the action of vapour and ash from the fire. The white dots that you can see are feldspar nodules added to the clay prior to making.
4.2 inches tall £100
PRY2 Nuka Glazed Yunomi.
SOLD
The Nuka glaze can vary depending on the batch of ash used, the clay body,the placement in the kiln and the atmosphere in the kiln. This particular example has stayed a soft, snowy white and contrasts sharply with the pours of tenmoku glaze.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY3 Kohiki Yunomi.
SOLD
Some years ago I lived in Korea near to Keryon Mountain. The kilns that worked there in the 15th and 16th centuries produced Bunchong pots with iron brush patterns. This cup is influenced by those pieces. A white slip brushed over a dark clay. The body has been reduced but the glaze was fired in neutral to oxidising conditions.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY4 Shino glazed yunomi.
I have brushed white slip thickly onto a high iron clay and then used an iron pigment on top of the glaze.
3.75 inches tall. £100
PRY6 Pine ash glazed Yunomi.
SOLD
The pine ash glaze really loves the wood kiln! The fluctuating atmosphere that moves from reducing to oxidising as the kiln is stoked seems to create a very special, clean and fresh celadon green.
4.1 inches tall. £100
PRY7 Ash Glazed Yunomi.
The ash glazes need surface treatments that provide something for them to work their magic. I often provide a ‘strap’ around my pots to catch the glaze where it changes colour and texture to highlight the decoration and the form.
4.1 inches tall. £100
PRY8 Kohiki Yunomi.
White slip has been brushed onto a dark clay body. Iron pigment brush pattern on top of the glaze.
3.25 inches tall. £100
PRY9 Wood fired Yunomi.
I developed a clay body for the wood kiln based on the clays used at Shigiraki in Japan. I wanted a clay that would develop a red to orange palette without slip or glaze just from the effect of vapour and ash from the fire. This particular bowl has a shino glaze on the interior.
3.75 inches tall. £100
PRY10 Wood fired Yunomi with hakeme.
I made and fired this yunomi at the pottery of Marcus O’Mahoney in Lismore, Ireland. It is an experimental, very dark clay that has been heavily sanded. I have used a thick white slip and incised, through the slip, a foliate pattern. The glaze is my pine ash glaze fired in a three chamber wood kiln.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY11 Wood fired Yunomi.
SOLD
A wood fired yunomi with my pine ash glaze over the upper half. The lower portion is combed and the clay left to the vapour and ash from the fire for its colour. I like very much the contrast of the green of the glaze with the warm orange colour of the clay.
3.8 inches tall. £100
PRY12 Ash glazed Yunomi.
Wood fired with my pine ash glaze. I like any line that travels around a pot to waver a little….I don’t like lines that are to flat or regular…this ‘strap’ undulates and I believe that that adds more interest to the form.
4.2 inches tall. £100
PRY13 Yunomi with Nuka and Oribe glazes.
I have combined Nuka glaze with Oribe to create an amazing turquoise colour.
3.65 inches tall. £100
PRY14 Wood fired Yunomi.
This cup has been fired very close to the flame of the fire. The unglazed clay has fluxed to an almost salt glazed surface. The Nuka glaze has become fluid which is an indication of extreme heat as Nuka requires a temperature in excess of 1320 degrees C to do this.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY15 Wood fired yunomi.
Pine ash glaze over a combed background.
4.2 inches tall. £100
PRY16 Kohiki Yunomi.
I have made a pattern by incising the surface of the clay and then taken a thick white slip and filled the hollows. Later, I have carefully pared down the slip to reveal the original pattern. A clear, transparent glaze covers the piece.
3.75 inches tall. £100
PRY17 Wood fired Yunomi.
SOLD
Again, I have used a thick white slip to provide a misty background to the incised pattern.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY18 Yunomi with pine ash glaze.
SOLD
I believe that less is often more…my primary concern in making pots is the form. Decoration is, for me at least, subordinate to the form but not in any way an after thought. Both form and decoration must work harmoniously together even when the decoration is minimal as in the case of this cup. The impressed marks create a dynamic which emphasize the form and, because of their minimalist nature, require to be fresh and crisp in their execution.
4.2 inches tall. £100
PRY19 Yunomi with local stone glaze.
SOLD
An iron bearing stone dust from a quarry near to Kington in Powys lends an olive colour to this glaze.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY20 Wood fired Yunomi.
My pine ash glaze placed over a white slip and a combed pattern and fired in the wood kiln.
4.5 inches tall. £100
PRY21 Yunomi with a Tenmoku glaze.
A Yunomi with a tenmoku glaze and a finger wiped decoration. The Nuka glaze is inside and spills gently over the rim.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY22 Yunomi with Tenmoku and Nuka glazes.
I have used the tenmoku to pour over the Nuka glaze on the lower portion of this cup. Underneath the glaze is a combed decoration.
4.25 inches tall. £100
PRY23 Ash glazed Yunomi.
Two different ash glazes…one inside and over the rim and the other on the lower portion. I have placed Nuka glaze on the rim and allowed it to run down as the glazes were molten.
4 inches tall. £100
PRY24 Yunomi with a paddled decoration.
SOLD
I make this pattern with a wooden paddle during the throwing when the clay is very soft. The pot is thrown a s a cylinder…the pattern is made and then the cup is expanded from the inside. Its a bit like writing on a ballon and then blowing it up…the pattern takes on the expanded form to create a harmonious whole.
3.75 inches tall. £100
PRY25 Wood fired Yunomi.
A Yunomi from the first chamber of the wood kiln and displaying the effects of fire, ash and vapour.
4 inches tall. £100
and last but by no means least, the ultimate Christmas present……… a yunomi by……………..
Shoji Hamada
RESERVED
A Yunomi by Hamada Shoji. Hamada has taken a local red clay and made a slip. The upper portion of this yunomi has been dipped into the slip and the broken cane motif painted over the ash glaze. This yunomi dates from approx. the mid sixties and comes with a signed wooden box.
3.4 inches tall. £995.00
For extra views of this yunomi please see my Hamada Shoji page.