The unofficial/official HAGI topic!

[AdamMY]

yours looks so clean. what do you do to clean off the tea stains?

I just use very hot tap water and a dry dish towel every night when I put it away is all.

+1

The weirdest thing about Hagi, you have the staining of the crackles, but generally the surface never stains.

I'll show you a photo of the Large Hagi cup I use for brewing teas grandpa style... I think it progressed beyond staining to patina

[Chip]

I'll show you a photo of the Large Hagi cup I use for brewing teas grandpa style... I think it progressed beyond staining to patina

Yes, please do.

Perhaps it is also due to the fact that ones I have personally seen first hand are only used for Japanese green teas.

[andrzej bero]

Tead Off wrote:
To my knowledge, Hagi is not high fired and porosity is a feature of this work. Mine is not unusual.

ups... my gaffe. When I look at this site with a small kid behind a table I sometimes lost my concentration. Hagi, ok here we are:) Sorry

but btw I am confused too... who gave better definition?
"Hagi (...) high-fired stoneware"
http://www.e-yakimono.net/guide/html/hagi.html
or
"Now, Hagi ware is highly valued as one of the world's greatest types of earthenware.
http://www.wahooya.com/hagi-yaki/index.html

[Chip]

but btw I am confused too... who gave better definition?

Robert Yellin of Yakimono ... he has quite the reputation! IMHO.

There is certainly an air of mystery surrounding much of the regional teaware of Japan.

Interestingly the quote for the second one referring to highly valued Hagi ... yet they largely sell just "kiln runs or pieces" which though functional are of little value at all. Kind of speaks volumes as to their motives.

[Tead Off]

Chip, I got the Hagi from a collector in the States. I think it was purchased some years ago but never used. I saw the type listed on a site showing many Seigan styles and glazes. Can't remember which one.

I would never call Hagi high fired but maybe my understanding is faulty. Nothing about these pieces look high fired to me so I cannot comment on Yellin's description. He is also an expert on Japanese yakimono. It's porosity and dull sound when thwacked have always lead me to assume they were low fired but I think they are fired for a long period. Hopefully, someone with working knowledge can comment on this.

[Chip]

Not to argue, but I heard the "dull sound when thwacked" was due to the high sand content of the Hagi clay. Actually it was Mago who was speaking from his personal experience as a potter when I asked him.

Then from my own personal experience, this sound becomes even "duller" after a quick soaking of the more porous super oni hagi type pieces.

[AdamMY]

I would never call Hagi high fired but maybe my understanding is faulty. Nothing about these pieces look high fired to me so I cannot comment on Yellin's description. He is also an expert on Japanese yakimono. It's porosity and dull sound when thwacked have always lead me to assume they were low fired but I think they are fired for a long period. Hopefully, someone with working knowledge can comment on this.

Hopefully an artisian can comment on this but I think the key word might be stoneware from the "high fired stoneware" statement. When I was reading up on pottery styles a bit more, I thought there were distinctions between firing levels of various types of pottery i.e. Earthenware vs. Stoneware. So it very well may be that hagi could fall into the range of both listed, depending on artist and piece.

[andrzej bero]

Before any Hagi artisan will give explanation, let me for a few general remarks here from my own experience and some questions.
1.

Not to argue, but I heard the "dull sound when thwacked" was due to the high sand content of the Hagi clay.

that is truth to clays I know. Two pieces of the same clay fired the same temperature but one of them with great sand or grog addition will give deference in sound.
2. " high fired" - well, this term can be not explicit. In 1250 C pot can be "high fired" and in 1350 C too. The porosity depends on sufficiently high firing (I do not know if that is correct in En) for ex.: I have clay which in 1200C is not taking water and 50 degrees up start to melt. In opposite another one even in 1300 is still porous.
3. language - it seems that in Japan they look on pottery from the other point of view we used too. Extremal ex. - Koie Ryoji can call yakimono columns made from aluminium cast in the ground.
4. for my better understanding I have some questions for Hagi owners:
a. you are leaving your Hagi full of water for few hours. Is there moisture on a table under a pot? and if yes does it work for wares with "ventilation" in foot ^ too.
b.you are leaving your Hagi in container full of water? Will the weigh befor and after much change?
thanks, andrzej

[Chip]

4. for my better understanding I have some questions for Hagi owners:
a. you are leaving your Hagi full of water for few hours. Is there moisture on a table under a pot? and if yes does it work for wares with "ventilation" in foot ^ too.
b.you are leaving your Hagi in container full of water? Will the weigh befor and after much change?
thanks, andrzej

a. This depends on the Hagi piece. Some yes, and some no. This generally subsides with continued use. This is regardless of notches and cuts in foot.

b. Again depends on the Hagi, but some definitely gain water weight ... this is one reason why Hagi must be left out for up to a week to dry before placing into a box, etc.

When this occurs, the "ring" is duller!

And again this is more prevelant with the more super oni Hagi pieces (more sand content). The glaze used definitely impacts this. Biwa or loquat glaze will be more porous than most glazes, generally.

[andrzej bero]

Chip, thanks for response. Every day I can learn something here.
Tead Off, of course thank you too.

[Chip]

Chip, thanks for response. Every day I can learn something here.

Most of us do ... I on the other hand was born this way.

Seriously, I knew nothing about Hagi 3 years ago, and had likely not heard of it 5 years ago.

[AdamMY]

I'll show you a photo of the Large Hagi cup I use for brewing teas grandpa style... I think it progressed beyond staining to patina

Yes, please do.

Perhaps it is also due to the fact that ones I have personally seen first hand are only used for Japanese green teas.

Alright in the sense of thoroughness, I wanted to see if it was stained irreparably or just stained through lack of thorough rinsing and cleaning. As I actually noticed that since I moved here a lot of my hagi ware has tended to accumulate a brown stain over time even with Sencha or Gyo, although typically easily fixable with a bit of love and hot water, this one I had to use a brush on but I think the photos speak for themselves.

Stained:



After through cleaning:

[kymidwife]

I have 2 Deishi white pieces (my first Hagi) which have both developed a bit of a patina. One is a kyusu which has quite a bit of staining around the spout. The other is a yunomi, which has great interior and exterior crackling but also a definite interior patina. I've used both of these pieces extensively, and mostly for black and oolong teas, so I expected a more dramatic color change. I never viewed the patina as undesireable or something I should deliberately try to scrub off and get rid of. Do others try to avoid patina build-up on their white Hagi?

[AdamMY]

I have 2 Deishi white pieces (my first Hagi) which have both developed a bit of a patina. One is a kyusu which has quite a bit of staining around the spout. The other is a yunomi, which has great interior and exterior crackling but also a definite interior patina. I've used both of these pieces extensively, and mostly for black and oolong teas, so I expected a more dramatic color change. I never viewed the patina as undesireable or something I should deliberately try to scrub off and get rid of. Do others try to avoid patina build-up on their white Hagi?

Different people have different preferences, as personally I do not mind staining in the cracks, and I think it adds character to the pieces but some people think that looks horrible, but besides that I do like my pieces to try and look clean, which reminds me I really need to take my two pieces in from work, as they really need a nice scrubbing like this piece did.

[AdamMY]

It is really had to get photos of some of the staining on this piece but I think this captures it the best, still not entirely sure why it occurred opposite of the spout first, but I've given up trying to make sense of what Hagi does or does not do.