Hank Murrow on tue 19 aug 08
On Aug 18, 2008, at 11:42 PM, Lee Love wrote:
> Des,
> . Shino clay, Mogusa clay, is very high alumina (I fire it
> multiple times at cone 13 before it stops leaking) and does not
> require heavy reduction. The old kilns fired mostly in oxidation for
> many days at lower temps. They take a long time to cool. Hank has
> done tile test to determine when the red occurs and it occurs in
> oxidation at the lower temps you describe. It is a way to fire that
> requires less fuel than the Mino kilns.
Dear Shino Lovers;
That Mogusa clay is pretty refractory, cone 15 is its maturation
point. The Tea masters love it because, being 'soft', the whisk
sounds like rain on thatch, compared to vitrified bodies on which the
whisk sounds like rain on a tin roof. Raku chawan share this quality.
Imagine a quiet tea room...... and sounds become as important as
'looks'.
When I was visiting Yoshida Yoshihiko in his home near Tajimi in
2006, he offered me a hikidashi-setoguro chawan I had been admiring.
I quickly asked the translator, Oichi Tomoko, to tell him that it
would 'be to heavy to carry across the Pacific'. Relieved I think, he
offered me a lovely shino guinomi. Two years later, he came to
Portland to start a 6 week residency and tour with his former deshi
Ken Pincus, and he offered me my choice of six chawan and another
beautiful guinomi. I fell for the lovely burnished and smoked black
piece that had no glaze at all. It reminds me of Oregon rain. The
whisk makes a very lovely sound in this chawan. and the mossy green
tea is superb against the satiny black interior. I will post pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/claycraft/
Cheers, Hank
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