Raku-yaki (楽焼), or Raku ware, is a type of Japanese pottery that is traditionally and primarily used in the Japanese tea ceremony in Japan, most often in the form of tea bowls. It is traditionally characterized by hand-molding of the clay as opposed to turning it on a potter's wheel, resulting in each piece being "one-of-a-kind"; low firing temperatures (resulting in a fairly porous body); lead glazes; and the removal of pieces from the kiln while still glowing hot. In the traditional Japanese firing process, the fired Raku piece is removed from the hot kiln and put directly into water or allowed to cool in the open air. Raku techniques have been adopted and modified by contemporary potters worldwide.
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History
The term Raku (literally, "enjoyment" or "ease") for this kind of pottery derives from Jurakudai, the name of a palace in Kyoto built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), the leading warrior statesman of the time.
In the 16th century, the Japanese tea master Sen Rikyu, who was involved with the construction of the Jurakudai, had a tile-maker named Chōjirō produce hand-moulded tea bowls for use in the wabi style of tea ceremony that was Rikyū's ideal. The resulting tea bowls made by Chōjirō were initially referred to as "ima-yaki" ("contemporary ware"), and were also distinguished as Juraku-yaki, from the red clay that they employed, called Juraku clay. Hideyoshi presented Chōjirō with a seal bearing the Chinese character for Raku. Raku then became the name of the family that produced the wares. Both the name and the ceramic style have been passed down through the family (sometimes by adoption) to the present 15th generation (Kichizaemon). The name and the style of ware has become influential in both Japanese culture and literature.
In Japan, there are "branch kilns" (wakigama) in the Raku-ware tradition, founded by Raku family members or potters who apprenticed at the head family's studio. One of the most well-known of these is Ōhi-yaki, or Ōhi ware.
After the publication of a manual in the 18th century, raku ware was also made in numerous workshops in and around Kyoto, by amateur potters and tea practitioners and by professional and amateur potters around Japan.
Raku ware marked an important point in the historical development of Japanese ceramics, as it was the first ware to use a seal mark and the first to focus on close collaboration between potter and patron. Other famous Japanese clay artists of this period include Dōnyū (grandson of Chōjirō, also known as Nonkō; 1574-1656), Hon'ami Kōetsu (1556-1637) and Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743).
Western raku techniques
The use of a reduction chamber at the end of the raku firing was introduced by the American potter Paul Soldner in the 1960s to compensate for the difference in atmosphere between wood-fired Japanese raku kilns and gas-fired American kilns. Typically, pieces removed from the hot kiln are placed in masses of combustible material (e.g., straw, sawdust, or newspaper) to provide a reducing atmosphere for the glaze and to stain the exposed body surface with carbon.
Western raku potters rarely use lead as a glaze ingredient, due to its serious level of toxicity, but may use other metals as glaze ingredients. Japanese potters substitute a non-lead frit. Although almost any low-fire glaze can be used, potters often use specially formulated glaze recipes that "crackle" or craze (present a cracked appearance), because the crazing lines take on a dark color from the carbon.
Western raku is typically made from a stoneware clay body, bisque fired at 900 °C (1,650 °F) and glaze fired (the final firing) between 800–1,000 °C (1,472–1,832 °F), which falls into the cone 06 firing temperature range. The process is known for its unpredictability, particularly when reduction is forced, and pieces may crack or even explode due to thermal shock. Pots may be returned to the kiln to re-oxidize if firing results do not meet the potter's expectations, although each successive firing has a high chance of weakening the overall structural integrity of the pot. Pots that are exposed to thermal shock multiple times can break apart in the kiln, as they are removed from the kiln, or when they are in the reduction chamber.
The glaze firing times for raku ware are short: an hour or two as opposed to up to 16 hours for high-temperature cone 10 stoneware firings. This is due to several factors: raku glazes mature at a much lower temperaturee (under 980 °C/1,800 °F, as opposed to almost 1,260 °C/2,300 °F for high-fire stoneware); kiln temperatures can be raised rapidly; and the kiln is loaded and unloaded while hot and can be kept hot between firings.
Because temperature changes are rapid during the raku process, clay bodies used for raku ware must be able to cope with significant thermal stress. The usual way to add strength to the clay body and to reduce thermal expansion is to incorporate a high percentage of quartz, grog, or kyanite into the body before the pot is formed. At high additions, quartz can increase the risk of dunting or shivering. Therefore, kyanite is often the preferred material, as it contributes both mechanical strength and, in amounts up to 20%, significantly reduces thermal expansion. Although any clay body can be used, most porcelains and white stoneware clay bodies are unsuitable for the western raku process unless some material is added to deal with thermal shock.
Aesthetic considerations include clay color and fired surface texture, as well as the clay's chemical interaction with raku glazes.
In a craft conference in Kyoto in 1979, a heated debate sprang up between Western raku artists Paul Soldner and Rick Hirsh and the youngest in the dynastic raku succession, Kichiemon, (of the fourteenth generation of the "Raku" family of potters) concerning the right to use the title "raku". The Japanese artists maintain that any work by other craftsman should hold their own name, (i.e., Soldner-ware, Hirsh-ware), as that was how "raku" was intended.
In literature
- Raku tea bowls play an important part in Rituals, a 1983 novel by the Dutch author, Cees Nooteboom.
See also
References
- Pitelka, Morgan. Handmade Culture: Raku Potters, Patrons, and Tea Practitioners in Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8248-2970-0.
- Hamer, Frank and Janet. The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques. A & C Black Publishers, Limited, London, England, Third Edition 1991. ISBN 0-8122-3112-0.
- Peterson, Susan. The Craft and Art of Clay. The Overlook Press, Woodstock, NY, Second Edition 1996. ISBN 0-87951-634-8.
- Watkins, James C. Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques: Raku * Saggar * Pit * Barrel, Lark Ceramics Publications, 2007. ISBN 9781579904555, ISBN 1579904556.
External links
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