Setup for tea sessions in Delft

Cups for gongfu cha and bowls for sidehandle style bowltea

Two gaiwans on a work bench…

My version of “builders tea”, they are perfect for keeping the dust out!

For me, Gaiwans are the in-betweens of tea. They are not bowls and not teapots. You can use them to drink from. I have lovely memories of doing so in a tea garden in China, but you can also use them as a teapot to explore more of the complexity in the leaves… they don’t excel at either of these tasks but sometimes you just want to use one

These have a simple ash glaze and have been fired to cone 10 in oxidation

#tea #ceramics #teaware #pottery #gongfucha #builderstea

I don’t understand vases…

This one turned out ok. It is porcelain with an Aventurin-like glaze I was testing. And vases are always nice to take pictures of.

But this image mostly reminds me of how important it is for a potter (or other craftsperson) to not only be good at their craft but also have a deep understanding of the functional criteria of what they make.

I have that for teaware. I don’t have that for vases…

#pottery #craft #craftsmanship #vase #interiordesign #ceramics #porcelain #handmade

Throwing on my period stick wheel

These have been in use for a long time… think Mesopotamia! The Romans loved them (I am making Gallo-Roman wine cups here) but also in the early to mid Middle Ages.

They work really well, you can throw quickly and efficiently but it is physically demanding work and somewhat less precise because you can’t use your knees as support for your arms

#medieval #roman #livinghistory #reenactment #pottery #craft #heritage #wheelthrowing