This pot was part of my MFA thesis, Tea Time with the Devil.

I made hundreds of teabowls over the last year in an attempt to arrive at some that I liked. I tried all sorts of clay formulations, different firings, glaze combinations and making techniques. It was a very enjoyable exploration even though most of the teabowls ended up in the trash.

I did get some winners!

This one was gas fired in a small kiln and then removed at top temperature (around 2250°F) with a pair of metal tongs. This technique is called hikidashi and I saw it quite a bit in Japan. It cools the pot very rapidly in oxidation. This made the tenmoku glaze (which is normally dark brown-black) into a beautiful deep green. This translucent green finish shows off the rope texture quite nicely.

One nice happy accident is that you can see the marks from the tongs on the underside of the pot: It was branded by the process.

All of these teabowls were named after trails I have frequented near Logan, Utah.

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The glaze on this pot is mostly my tenmoku with kaki and jun brushed over. The deep rich color of this glaze comes primarily from iron. Iron presents a challenge, though: It is a flux, so it tends to make the glaze melt at a lower temperature and drip off the pot. After many experiments, I succeeded in making a stable tenmoku that had the characteristics I was looking for.

This glaze contains 57% Devil’s Playground granite plus 5% basalt from near Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho. Full recipe can be viewed on my blog.

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Dimensions: Approximately 3” tall x 5” wide

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My pots are microwave, dishwasher and oven safe. They are made with stoneware clay and fired to cone 10, which is about 2300 degrees Fahrenheit.

If a pot you like is sold out, let me know and I can make you a similar one. I also take commissions of all sorts, so just email me if you have an idea.

I ship internationally quite often; this is no problem, but it may require a little extra postage. It is hard to estimate as it changes from country to country. For international orders, I will contact you if there is a big difference in the shipping cost after I ship the pots.

I typically ship with USPS or UPS and send tracking information after posting each order.

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See the short video below for me handling this pot…