Fly Ash Vase #26122

Standing in the crown of the Sasukenei Kiln in Weimar, this vase held the position where the flame wraps a piece most fully and most evenly. High in the vault the fire does not strike from one side but passes over and around the whole form, carrying volatile alkali vapour with it and laying colour down breath by breath across every face of the vessel.

The form is tall and quietly assured, drawn up to a faceted shoulder and a clearly set lip. It is glazed on the inside alone; the exterior was left in bare soda porcelain slip and given entirely to the fire. Where the vapour settled and carbon was trapped in the slip, the surface darkened into patches of black, grey and silver, soft as tarnished metal. Elsewhere the volatiles carried on the flame drew out the classic orange flashing, warm apricot and rust blushing across the clay before fading into cooler grey below. On one side, a breath of ash settled into a faint green passage, the only mark the fire left of the wood itself.

Nothing here is forced. The full range of the firing, carbon, flame, and ash, is gathered evenly on a single form and held in balance, and it is this completeness that sets the piece apart. Glazed within, it is watertight and ready to hold water and flowers, though it asks for very little to complete it. It is the kind of piece a room, or a collection, quietly arranges itself around.

Height: 29 cm · Width: 14 cm