Artist Yang's Wood Fired Gaiwan Collection

Origin: Jing De Zhen, China

Technique: Hand made 

Material: pottery 

Firing: 1500C, 36 hours

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These wood fired Gaiwans are from a young artist named Rong Guang, Yang, in Jing De Zhen. We were attracted by his raw and wild style from the moment we saw his work. We are impressed by his talents and passion for wood fired ceramics. His art works are some of the most original ones we have seen in Jing De Zhen, and we were lucky to visit one of his work studios while he kindly shared some of wood firing technique knowledge with us. 

Wood fired ceramic has a particular way of firing known as “naked firing” since it usually doesn’t use any glaze. The ceramic body is “colored” or “glazed” by the wood ashes fall onto it in the kiln during firing, along with how the ceramic surface gets in contact with fire or how skilled potters manipulate fire to get in touch with the ceramic in the kiln. These are two of the key elements to determine what a finished artwork could look like, but it’s never guaranteed since many changes can occur naturally in the firing process. We can also interpret a wood fired piece as nature’s work since it solely depends on wood and fire and we can never fully predict the changes that will happen. The firing temperature is usually around 1300C and need to be fired for at least three days. 

There are never two identical wood fired ceramic pieces, which is another unique aspect. This year, we brought seven different Gaiwans (three have been sold before presale started) with different shape and look, and nine tea cups of two different styles also from artist Yang to introduce his artwork to you. All these Gaiwans are produced in the traditional wood firing way, except for the rare blue Gaiwan, which is glazed with blue color first then fired with wood firing. 

The Earthy Crystal is also quite special thanks to its 95% ash glazed metal like smooth texture, which indicates that it's placed in a very good position in the kiln during firing. Only when the ceramic surface is in touch with a lot of ashes and is placed at a position that's very close to fire, would the glazed effect happen the most. A wood fired ceramic piece that's 100% glazed exists, but harder to come by since it will require the potter to place and fire it in the kiln very strategically.