Pottery by Inge Nielsen - Chinese-inspired teaware

[debunix]

Subtle and beautiful.

I guess in ceramics glaze recipes could be considered 'trade secrets'?

[inge]

Subtle and beautiful.

I guess in ceramics glaze recipes could be considered 'trade secrets'?

Hi debunix,
Thanks for stopping by, Yes, I think glaze recipes are considered trade secrets by many people, but it is slowly changing with the publication of new glaze books and the internet (blogs, pinterest...). My view is that many of these Chinese glazes I treasure belong to all of us - they are already more than a thousand years old. Those of us alive today did not invent them. But we have to make sure they are passed on...

[ethan]

"fake blue celadon ....."

What do you mean? Is it not celadon? Not jun, ....

Anyway it looks good. Been going to pottery classes in Chiangmai & getting the lid right for a good working tea caddy is proving extremely difficult. It is another example of practice (skill) being necessary, not just hearing how one is supposed to do it.

[inge]

"fake blue celadon ....."

What do you mean? Is it not celadon? Not jun, ....

Anyway it looks good. Been going to pottery classes in Chiangmai & getting the lid right for a good working tea caddy is proving extremely difficult. It is another example of practice (skill) being necessary, not just hearing how one is supposed to do it.

Hi Ethan
Thanks for looking.
It's neither real celadon nor jun. This glaze gains its colour from a very small addition of copper carbonate (0.4%) and cobalt oxide (0.03%), whereas blue celadon and jun gain their colour from reduced iron and attention to firing (they like to be slightly underfired and like a hold at around 1200 to help those bubbles forming). Interestingly, jun is not blue but grey or green if applied thinly, and researchers who have studied this in depth say that the blue colour is a deception in that it comes from lights interaction with many tiny bubbles suspended in the glaze. So, no, this is not really jun or blue celadon, but it looks pleasing even if it has a somewhat "flatter" , less lively look than those noble originals.
On lids, try trimming them a couple of milimeters bigger than the gallery they will sit in, as the lid tends to shrink more slowly (being thrown thicker) than the thrown body. But yes, lids can be tricky and it is really a joy when they fit right. Good luck to you!

[JBaymore]

Interestingly, jun is not blue but grey or green if applied thinly, and researchers who have studied this in depth say that the blue colour is a deception in that it comes from lights interaction with many tiny bubbles suspended in the glaze.

Yup. Those 'bubbles' are tiny concentrations of phosphorous pentoxide coming as trace material from the typical wood ashes and bone ashes that are part of the typical jun glaze raw material composition. Phosphorous pentoxide glass is immiscible in silica glass..... and is like the tiny droplets of oil in a vinegar and water based salad dressing after shaking. refracts the light. Beautiful stuff.

Love the glaze on the little kyusu. Local reduction copper red?

best,

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

[inge]

Interestingly, jun is not blue but grey or green if applied thinly, and researchers who have studied this in depth say that the blue colour is a deception in that it comes from lights interaction with many tiny bubbles suspended in the glaze.

Yup. Those 'bubbles' are tiny concentrations of phosphorous pentoxide coming as trace material from the typical wood ashes and bone ashes that are part of the typical jun glaze raw material composition. Phosphorous pentoxide glass is immiscible in silica glass..... and is like the tiny droplets of oil in a vinegar and water based salad dressing after shaking. refracts the light. Beautiful stuff.

Love the glaze on the little kyusu. Local reduction copper red?

best,

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

Hi John, I could definitely not have said that better! In fact, I could probably not have pronounced that at all! Thanks, it is super to have your input.

Local reduction copper red... I wish I had the possibility to play with that. How wonderful those peach blossom glazes are. This kyusu is double-glazed with two viscous glazes (first a pink stain glaze, then a tin white) and fired in oxidation. The pink glaze is awful on its own, all bubbly and uneven. But it is exactly those faults that make it interesting under the white.

rear view pink kyusu

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top view pink kyusu

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It's not a look I have gone for before. I am warming up to it very slowly...

John, have you tried saggar-firing jun in your woodkiln? I'd love to see how that looks...

[inge]

Hello Everyone,
I have just finished a firing, and have uploaded some pics to Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PotterybyInge ... _shop_menu

Thankfully, this was a fairly successful firing even though there are not so many teapots in there this time.

Please take a look.

kyusu

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tea caddy small

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tea caddy large

P1020387 (500x334).jpg (23.41 KiB) Viewed 2328 times

[Fuut]

For some reason your shop link isn't working for me. Also trying to find via search did not work..

Love the celadon caddies, looking quite nice.

[debunix]

This link should work for her shop:

PotterybyIngeNielsen on Etsy

[Fuut]

This link should work for her shop:

PotterybyIngeNielsen on Etsy

Thank you i tried to search it too but still couldn't find it..

[inge]

Thank you debunix, that was clumsy of me!
(I have corrected it, now it should work).


Inge

[bonjiri]

Inge

Enjoying your beautiful Chinese inspired ceramic art

Love the oilspot vessels !

Inspirational

Cory

[inge]

Inge

Enjoying your beautiful Chinese inspired ceramic art

Love the oilspot vessels !

Inspirational

Cory

Cory, hi! It is great to meet you here in this friendly forum. I am honored by your comments. When I first got into pottery, I followed your youtube tutorials keenly and took great inspiration from your work. I even tried to carve some double-walled teacups - alas, in the end I had to realise your art is impossible to imitate!

I'm following the progress of your kiln building. Looking forward to seeing your new pieces.

Best regards
Inge

[inge]

Another load finished this morning. This time a lower firing - 1250 degrees Celcius - to facilitate the high-iron clay teapots.
A couple of pictures here, more on Etsy and eventually on my blog as well.

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[inge]

A few more impressions:

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P1020484.JPG (37.16 KiB) Viewed 2231 times

I have opened a Seconds section in my Etsy shop, where I place pieces that I for various reasons cannot pitch as perfect (by my own standards, anyway). This porcelain kyusu, lovely and harmonic, should have poured better for example, so it went in the seconds section (now sold at half its normal price). I don't know what other potters do with their seconds, but I think this system will work for me. I am happy to hear from other people what they make of this.