Purchasing used chawan

[JBaymore]

Please note what I mentioned in the body of the text above....... just about all real Raku wares in Japan are lead glazed. Both Aka (red) and Kuro (black). The older it is... the higher the likelihood that it is a raw lead compound glaze. Just about anything to mid Showa Jidai is lead glaze. Most today still are. Late Showa and Heisei might be sourcing using lead frits...... which might affect leaching potential a tiny bit in a positive direction.

And they are all "low fired". In fact some American raku wares are fired to higher temps.



best,

...................john

[Fireflower]

i bought that fujisan chawan, i love it and to me it look wonderful, when it will arrive from japan i will post some picture for sure!
"is a copy of National Treasure Raku Chawan named "Fujisan" (Mount Fuji) by Honami Koetsu (1558-1637).The white glaze,which appears to sit on the bowl like snow on Mount Fuji.The bowl made by Sasaki Shoraku at Shoraku Kiln"
i will follow your instructions, thank you very much!
i am very excited, i holpe that everything will be ok with the delivery.

[joelbct]

I've bought used Chawan with no issues. I like my Raku but usually use my less expensive bowls for Matcha.

I'm actually thinking of putting some up on eBay, trying to minimalize my possessions:

My Red Raku:


Black Raku:


Arita:


My First Chawan:

[rdl]

john,
thank you for the information. i have one confusion. you wrote that both the red and black wares have lead. what part of the red glaze has lead? the red glaze contains cadmium, like the red in japanese prints and the traditional ink for a hanko, but i thought in a fired form it was not harmful. note - i thought, so i appreciate your expertise. but i was unaware that there was lead in the akaraku.
it is interesting that american raku could be fired at a higher temperature because in all the reading i've done the stress by american potters is always this lower temperature = non-safe for food, drink. as i never saw that in reference to japanese raku i just imagined it to be low fired but higher than american raku.
the more i learn the less i know

fireflower,
as i mentioned, hibiki-an carries non-lead bowls and from the same potter/workshop, although the spelling is different with the "h" added but i think it's the same. no way to know for sure but you may have a bowl that contains no lead.

[Drax]

as i mentioned, hibiki-an carries non-lead bowls and from the same potter/workshop, although the spelling is different with the "h" added but i think it's the same. no way to know for sure but you may have a bowl that contains no lead.

Yes, it's the same. In English spellings of Japanese names, you occasionally see the "oh" spelling to denote a long "o" sound. The most common way to show a long "o" (aside from the long vowel marking) is by using "ou," which is the way it's done in most Japanese words with a long "o" sound. However, "ou" usually has the "ow" or "oo" pronunciation in English, so that's why some people use "oh" to avoid confusion how it sounds.

And John, thanks very much for all the background info on the raku glaze!

[Fireflower]

i know that from hibiki an is a good purchase but price is to high for me (usd 498,00) when i have been very luck to purchase it at usd 99,00 on ebay (from japan)
i hope that it will arrive at my home

[JBaymore]

you wrote that both the red and black wares have lead. what part of the red glaze has lead?

What part? All of it . Akaraku wares actually have basically a clear glaze on them (see below). The traditional glaze recipe is usually a combination of powdered lead carbonate, ground flint, and some kaolin-type or other low iron clay. Exact recipes vary by potter and are "trade secrets". They are considerd "at their best" when caught just at the end of the maturing cycle when there is still a tiny bit of outgassing (fizz) trapped in the glaze in some areas. Not too much... just a "taste". Technically... a tad underfired.

Kuroraku glaze is traditionally composed of a large portion of a ground black-ish rock gathered from the banks and floor of the Kamogawa (Kamo River ... Duck River) in Kyoto. To this material is added some lead carbonate and some clay and (possibly some ground flint). Again exact recipes vary by potter and are "trade secrets". Because of the chemical composition of the Kamo river stone that forms the "core" of the glaze recipe, to keep the black coloration, the overall firing temperature is a bit higher than the akaraku glaze recipe.

Raw lead is pretty dangrouns for the potter to handle. A long time ago (European industrial revolution time) it was found that if you take lead carbonate and mix it with flint and pre-melt it into a glass and then grind it back to a powder form...... forming something potters call a "frit"........ that the bio-availability of the lead was SLIGHTLY decreased (for the potter). So sometimes these "frits" are used these days to get lead compounds into the glazes. Frit compositions vary... and get used for different effects.

You can formulate a clear glaze for akaraku wares without lead for sure....... I have one I use for my akaraku...... but it does NOT look exactly the same. Lead as a flux in the low firing temperature ranges is gorgeous and trouble free (from firing defects)....... it just has this one tiny , teensy little issue..........

You can bet that the actual Raku family ware glaze recipes are the same core that have been passed down for multiple generations.

the red glaze contains cadmium, like the red in japanese prints and the traditional ink for a hanko, but i thought in a fired form it was not harmful.

No, akaraku does not contain cadmium compounds. The overall red color comes from the high iron bearing slip (coating of liquid clay) over the lighter clay body that the piece is formed from.

Unless a glaze, any glaze in any firing range, is properly formulated and fired, it is possible that components of that glaze can be leached out into strong-ish acids and bases. So just because a glaze "looks" like it is melted OK... that does not mean that it is well formulated or that it is chemically stable. The "Mark 1 Eyeball" test is not an adequate way to assess glaze stability.

it is interesting that american raku could be fired at a higher temperature because in all the reading i've done the stress by american potters is always this lower temperature = non-safe for food, drink. as i never saw that in reference to japanese raku i just imagined it to be low fired but higher than american raku.

American raku process it typically very different in the firing treatment from Japanese raku. The post-firing reduction and fuming and other such things that happen in the American process are not done in Japan. Some of that American type process can cause materials to get deposited into the clay and glaze that can make it problematic for food use (except for maybe holding dry crakers or whole unpeeled fruit). Also the pieces remain porous and could allow the growth of bacteria and such in the clay walls. Often, the glazes used to get the dramatic American raku effects are very unstable chemically.

A huge number of American (and other Western potters) that practice what they think of as "raku" really know very little about the actual Japanese raku making process. They usually do not get taught that actual process at all, nor even accurate historical information. There is little written information (in English) that documents the actual Japanese proceess accurately. So you see hangtags on pieces and stuff on websites in the West saying a lot of stuff that mentions the Japanese tradition... and that imply that the pieces produced by that potter here are done in that tradition. It is actually misinformation.

When I do a raku course with my students, I deliberately have them do pieces in the Japanese manner along with ones in the American type process. Educationally, since I know the actual background a bit, it just seems appropriate that they get to know the two types and the differences therein.

the more i learn the less i know.

Boku mo. (Me too.)

best,

................john

[rdl]

john, thank you for the detailed reply. this discussion may be a bit off topic but very, very informative. i just wanted to add that not being a potter i learn much of what i can through the internet. and here from you and other knowledgeable posters but i have read that cadmium is a red raku ingredient. so this must be something only in american raku? or "you can't believe everythign you read on the internet"? but your explanation of japanese raku made thing clearer.

back on topic - fireflower, have you gotten to hold your new chawan in your hands yet? let us know.

[JBaymore]

.........but i have read that cadmium is a red raku ingredient.

.........you can't believe everythign you read on the internet"?

[Fireflower]

thank you very much again, very interesting.
after many words, just one thing, at the end, can i drink without problems matcha in a raku chawan? (and using oinly for matcha).

chawan is it underway i hope to have in a week, i will post pictures for sure

[Fireflower]

hello,chawan has arrived, to me it looks amazing, unfortunately is arrived with a very very small crack got it on the journey from japan to italy (not so easy to see) but i will keep it (i payed approximately 1/3 or 1/4 of his value).
this is my first raku, is it normal that have a particoular smell inside? and also if i put water inside, the smell is different than my other teaware (that are more neutral, only my tokoname teapot at the moment have a paricoular smell when i put water inside, but is unglazed clay so is normal); is not a bad smell and is not strong, i cannot describe it.

i leave a couple of pics

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9_EpG ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9_EpG ... sp=sharing

[rdl]

hello,chawan has arrived, to me it looks amazing, unfortunately is arrived with a very very small crack got it on the journey from japan to italy (not so easy to see) but i will keep it (i payed approximately 1/3 or 1/4 of his value).
this is my first raku, is it normal that have a particoular smell inside? and also if i put water inside, the smell is different than my other teaware (that are more neutral, only my tokoname teapot at the moment have a paricoular smell when i put water inside, but is unglazed clay so is normal); is not a bad smell and is not strong, i cannot describe it.

Fireflower,
i also have a thin crack in one of my rake bowls. i just don't let the matcha flow over it as i drink, i use the opposite side. the lesson (as someone mentioned, here on TC or elsewhere, when they were wiping their bowl they did it with enough pressure to break it in pieces) is to know how soft these bowls are and treat them gently. i think the smell you notice is a clay/earth type smell? i don't think that is unusual. it seems to activate as soon as hot water hits the bowl, and then once the bowl is moist goes away. that's my experience. does that seem close to yours? i don't think you have any serious issues to worry about.
and again - it's a beautiful bowl, as i've seen in the different photographs you've posted.