Hole in my teacup

[yanom]

This is my first post here after spending a lot of time reading! Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place or if this is an silly question but: I have a Japanese glazed teacup, and on the inside wall there is a black hole (about 1mm in diameter) in the glaze. I just wonder if this is a defect or something, or if it's something I shouldn't worry about. It is the first such item I've ever bought (I got it online) and I've no idea! I should add that this little hole certainly doesn't go through to the outside of the cup, but definitely goes into the glaze: I can fit the end of a small pen into it. Thanks.

[TIM]

This is my first post here after spending a lot of time reading! Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place or if this is an silly question but: I have a Japanese glazed teacup, and on the inside wall there is a black hole (about 1mm in diameter) in the glaze. I just wonder if this is a defect or something, or if it's something I shouldn't worry about. It is the first such item I've ever bought (I got it online) and I've no idea! I should add that this little hole certainly doesn't go through to the outside of the cup, but definitely goes into the glaze: I can fit the end of a small pen into it. Thanks.

Picture please. And a warm Welcome

[yanom]

Thanks for the welcome .
Here are a couple of attempts to take a photograph: hard to get it to focus right, I guess the reflections from the glaze confused my camera.
It does look like a super-tiny mark on a great big bowl in one of those photos, but it's not a great big bowl, just a teacup.
(need to scroll down on the other photo)

[David R.]

Looks like a winter galaxy glaze from Nakao Tetsuaki. Maybe this was not intended, but japanese ceramic often praises imperfections. I wouldn't worry at all ! Looks like a tiny bloody bullet hole, looks kind of cool

[yanom]

It is indeed -- well recognised!
I know what you mean about imperfections, and I do actually like the stain that the hole has caused, but I'm really hating the hole -- to the extent that I'm going to chuck it and write the whole thing off as an expensive mistake, go back to more mundane cups. Pity: the thing looks lovely and feels fantastic in the hand when it's got hot tea in it.

[Chip]

Welcome to TeaChat and the world of wabi sabi! DO NOT THROW IT AWAY!!!

Mama always said, "Wabi sabi is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

Sometimes I hate to break in a pristine, new Japanese (Hagi) piece knowing it will be forever changed. But once I do, then there is no turning back.

Enjoy your new galaxy glaze piece ... and the changes it goes through.

[Dingshu]

On a piece of commercial pottery, this would make it a second; it shouldn't be there.

On a piece of art pottery, if the potter released it this way, that was his statement that he regarded the apparent flaw as part of the art of the piece.

Myself, I think the glaze should be integral on the inside of a cup that's actually going to be used for drinking tea, without pinholes or similar flaws.

[Chip]

On a piece of commercial pottery, this would make it a second; it shouldn't be there.

On a piece of art pottery, if the potter released it this way, that was his statement that he regarded the apparent flaw as part of the art of the piece.

Myself, I think the glaze should be integral on the inside of a cup that's actually going to be used for drinking tea, without pinholes or similar flaws.

I am guessing you would not like Hagi?

This is a pretty unusual pinhole ... not sure I have seen this kind of development, progression in any piece I have purchased ... except a vintage Hagi chawan that has some pretty unusual things going on.

You might be able to clean the "run" and the hole might stop "bleeding."

EDIT ... on second thought, I guess the tea is getting in the hole ... and causing the unusual stain.

[yanom]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
The cup is brand new, got it and used it for the first time today, the stain was there from the start.
Chip, you call it an "unusual pinhole", do similar things develop in other cups? Or is there any reason not to think this a flaw, just like if, say, the rim was chipped?

[Dingshu]

I had assumed -- maybe wrongly -- that the cup came out of the kiln like this. Look how sharp it is. It's not unusual for a "leak" to accompany small pinholes like this.

As I said, it certainly would be considered a flaw in commercial pottery, but when it comes to art pottery it's up to what the potter considers a flaw. If you bought this off a photo that didn't include the pinhole and leak, then I'd say you could fairly ask for a refund.

[Chip]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
The cup is brand new, got it and used it for the first time today, the stain was there from the start.
Chip, you call it an "unusual pinhole", do similar things develop in other cups? Or is there any reason not to think this a flaw, just like if, say, the rim was chipped?

The Japanese view teaware differently than most countries, embracing wabi sabi concepts often to the extreme. For instance, occasionally there is an eruption or even explosion in the glaze surface (usually the source is the underlying clay, a particle explodes) ... and this is often more desirable (and expensive) than a perfect piece. I am thinking it would be more desirable on the exterior though.

How the hole happened is anyone's guess (you could ask Magokorodo ... the likely source?). I am guessing it may have been a bubble that popped in the firing. Tiny bubbles are not too uncommon in Hagi for instance. I am not really familiar with the galaxy glaze craze thing going on, but have been checking them out for months.

If it bugs you too much ... you could put it away for a period of time, your thoughts may change.

Or you could offer it on the TeaSwap forum of TeaChat (since you are new to the forum, you should PM me if you want to do this). TeaSwap is located under TeaCommunity, lower on the main index page.

[debunix]

I'm going to chuck it

You could chuck it my way and it would be loved and revered for however long it might choose to stay with me.....

[David R.]

A couple of pics from 2 of my galaxy cups. Many pinholes in the first one, many "stains" in the second. So I think it is fair to say but it is not a defect. I hope it helps.

[Tead Off]

Thanks for the welcome .
Here are a couple of attempts to take a photograph: hard to get it to focus right, I guess the reflections from the glaze confused my camera.
It does look like a super-tiny mark on a great big bowl in one of those photos, but it's not a great big bowl, just a teacup.
(need to scroll down on the other photo)

I believe this type of hole is referred to as 'amamori' which means leaky roof. This is a type of effect that is embraced in the Japanese view of ceramic art. Your cup is a lovely work of art but if you look at it with what I would call a 'Chinese eye', you would see a flaw, mainly because the Chinese have been taught for centuries that the best ceramics are types of porcelains with silky glaze. Back in T'ang and Song dynasties, there would be a more creative scope that could allow for the happy accidents in the kiln. It seems the Korean and Japanese potters picked up where the Chinese left off and have taken it to creative levels of another kind.

Because you are new to this field, you can only approach this from what you have learned in the past. But, with a little study, you will soon come to see a different beauty in works like this.

PS-I may not remember the exact Japanese name for this. They may actually call this type of pinhole and stain something else, but the general idea is looked at in the same way.

[Dingshu]

". . . but if you look at it with what I would call a 'Chinese eye', you would see a flaw, mainly because the Chinese have been taught for centuries that the best ceramics are types of porcelains with silky glaze."

That's a great point, but I think there's another factor at work as well: the Chinese imperial kilns, and their standards of production. They set the standards for "perfect" Chinese ceramics, and those standards remain to this day. A piece isn't perfect if it has a glaze pop or some flyspecks or if it's skewed even slightly off base, among other problems, and it would never have been sent to the imperial court with such a problem. The emperor wouldn't hear of it. And neither would the most fussy of modern collectors, who still expect the finest wares to meet the imperial standards of perfection. (Of course, in fact, they usually don't meet those standards, but that's another issue.)