The unofficial/official HAGI topic!

[Chip]

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

And your kid's toes too!!!

[Chip]

I have been watching the 3 Biwa acquired in Hagi SO #4 intently from day 1. Now approaching 11 months since receiving them.

I hope you enjoy watching the stages of Hagi as much as I do ... I love a brand new Hagi, and sometimes struggle in breaking it in. Here I have the luxury of watching 3 in all phases and would enjoy sharing this with you!

I mention surface, fissures and crackles as 3 distinct features.

They are all displayed in the same sequence in the groupings. I will call them A,B,C.
A has seen moderate use and clearly shows progression.
B has been heavily used, maybe 50 sessions which would include around 250 steeps. Major progression in the surface, fissures, crackles and newly appeared prominent 2ndary crackling. This was the only leaker of the 3.
C has never been used, this one displayed the most character when new.

A, B, C from left to right.




A. Some of the fissures on the outside are darker now,
crackles might be more distinct.

B. The entire exterior is showing progression
including darkening of the entire surface
and fissures and crackles


C. And new and stunning.


A. Interior walls show fissure darkening,
and the crackles are more prominent and darker.
Surface color is not changed.
B. The interior surface shows darkening, the fissures have progressed to dark! The crackles are abundant and darker and incredibly visible.
/

C. New ...


A. Surface still light, fissures showing some darkening. Though hard to see here, the crackles are very evident.

B. Can you say huge change! VERY dark, VERY dark fissures, Very dark crackles and prominent more newly appearing 2ndary crackling.


C. And new ...

[IPT]

That's awesome Chip. Thanks for showing us this.

[Chip]

Thanks IPT.

I should add, I think this Biwa SO, the pieces are quite subject to the progressions at accelerated pace. These are by far the most reactive to use that I have seen thus far.

I would attribute this to a few things. The extreme oni Hagi clay used and the Biwa glaze. Also these suckahs soak up water like a sponge! I bet they almost double in weight after soaking before each use. Extremely porous as everyone can attest too!

Thorough drying after each use is paramount!!!

[Drax]

Very cool, Chip, thanks for sharing! The folks at Hou De are still offering an interesting cracked celadon glaze that shows a remarkable darkening upon use.

My question -- do you somehow intentionally expose the outside as well? Or does that happen just with handling (if so, seems more like it would be dirt/grime-type instead of tea-type).....???

[Mrs. Chip]

My question -- do you somehow intentionally expose the outside as well? Or does that happen just with handling (if so, seems more like it would be dirt/grime-type instead of tea-type).....???

Drax, I am sure Chip will chime in here, but as he mentioned, this clay is very porous and 1 of these was a 'leaker' when they arrived at our abode.

The tea easily leaches through the cup walls with each use. And as Chip stated, he does a soak prior to use and after each use, so I would have to say that dirt/grime type is not in the equation.

[Chip]

Drax, LOL, I am a bit fastidious around the teaware, especially Hagi. No scents, lotions, lip balms, etc. ... and clean hands are a must!

And as I stated, these are pretty extreme Hagi made with oni hagi clay which is extremely porous. What goes in the cup, slowly will work its way to the outer surface over time.

Some Hagi will never show this extreme progression even after decades of use, good Hagi will show progression. The 7 stages of Hagi.

[Victoria]

Very cool, Chip, thanks for sharing! The folks at Hou De are still offering an interesting cracked celadon glaze that shows a remarkable darkening upon use.

My question -- do you somehow intentionally expose the outside as well? Or does that happen just with handling (if so, seems more like it would be dirt/grime-type instead of tea-type).....???

I believe Drax is asking about a celadon glazed one like the one from Hou De. I have celadon with crackle glaze and a couple without. One I have is from Hou De, but not the current one listed. I have used it many times and I still don't see any change. It is extremely slow, much slower than the Hagi progression since Hagi already has the cracks and the clay is coarser. Since you do see the crackles on the out side of Hagi, I have to assume it will happen to celadon too. But you need to use it a lot.

[Drax]

Mrs. Chip and Chip -- I'm glad to hear that, because otherwise that would have been really gross. Though it does sound like "extremely slow sieve" might be more accurate than "cup"? haha

Vic -- good to know on the Hou De cracked celedon... they show a picture of one really well-aged. I wonder if they sped it up for demonstration purposes....?

[Chip]

You can speed it up by submerging it into a large pot filled with coffee or tea or whatever.

[britt]

I have been watching the 3 Biwa aquired in Hagi SO #4 intently from day 1. Now approaching 11 months since receiving them.

I hope you enjoy watching the stages of Hagi as much as I do ... I love a brand new Hagi, and sometimes struggle in breaking it in. Here I have the luxury of watching 3 in all phases and would enjoy sharing this with you!

A very interesting post and a great job showing the progression through actual photos. I never noticed these changes on any of my Hagi, but I haven't compared them to the original vendor photos either. I guess I will have to now!

[nickE]

Very cool Chip, thanks for posting.

Some of the cracks on the bottom of the inside of my Hagi are starting to darken. It's fun to see the changes every time you use it.

[AdamMY]

My question -- do you somehow intentionally expose the outside as well? Or does that happen just with handling (if so, seems more like it would be dirt/grime-type instead of tea-type).....???

Drax I have something that might let you see almost first hand how the outside cracks darken. Though personally I differ in opinion with Chip and I think it is really dependent on the piece as to how quickly it will age. Granted my Biwa Impersonator is far from as used as Chips, but I have come to think it could possibly depend a bit on less apparent outside factors. I can only guess things such as possible clay density (maybe a TA can chime in on this) but I sometimes wonder if a little bit difference in pressure could somehow change the clay properties ever so slightly and effect porosity.

But as to how the tea stains the outsides, I have noticed this on a few pieces, but a sure sign that stains are going to start appearing on the outside, is when you start noticing similar looking patterns on your cup:



The story behind these involve I had the cup soaking pre-use par Chips suggestion. I drank the room temp water in the cup, then poured in boiling water to start cooling for Sencha. But I always love to examine my teaware while brewing tea, and I noticed stains like this, so I wetted my finger and cleaned them off, turned to the other side and cleaned more off, turned back to the front and more where there. That is when I looked closer and realized that these were water being pushed through the Hagi yaki, and it is accumulating tea residue, and possibly a bit of clay residue and deposit it on the outside, and in the cracks on the outside.

[Chip]

Not sure we disagree, Adam.

The darkening of the exterior fissures on the Biwa were certainly formed by tea leaching through the clay. And certainly this will vary from piece to piece.

However I would say most of the Biwa in the same SO run will react similarly to a certain degree, and more use will cause more and more progression.

In the case of your Sansai Tebineri, that was a very immediate leaching and the effect is much different than what is happening in the Biwas which though fast, is not as extreme as your teb. Since I have not heard of this with any other of these Sansai Tebs, perhaps this is a bit of an anomoly?

In any case, only a Hagi lover would love this progression.

[Chip]

Very cool Chip, thanks for posting.

Some of the cracks on the bottom of the inside of my Hagi are starting to darken. It's fun to see the changes every time you use it.

Something I did not show, even the unglazed clay on the exterior bottom is darkening.

A very interesting post and a great job showing the progression through actual photos. I never noticed these changes on any of my Hagi, but I haven't compared them to the original vendor photos either. I guess I will have to now!

Thanks Britt. With some Hagi it is obviously obvious, others it is virtually nonexistant.