News from Earth and Fire -- August 2, 2005
You know me (yunomi), and you don't know meFollowing along the theme of pots that I'm particularly drawn to, this week I want to share some of the wonderful yunomi (little cups) that are in the gallery now.
The term yunomi is from the Japanese tea ceremony. The Japanese take their tea ceremonies very seriously. None of this slapping a Lipton teabag into a styrofoam cup with the little tag dangling down, and pouring the boiling water from the kettle into it. No, no, no... I've had customers in the gallery who take classes in Japanese tea ceremony. Very involved, indeed.
I'm pretty sure there are some rather strict guidelines in Japanese tea ceremony ettiquette about just what constitutes a yunomi. I did a little high-level Googling to see if I could find said strict guidelines, and I was unable to do so within a couple of passes. I only found images of things that I already knew could be called a yunomi.
I am a tea drinker, but certainly not to the extent that you'd think, given my large personal collection of yunomi's. I'm just drawn to the form. As I indicated in another newsletter, I'm particularly drawn to the form in the evening, filled with a nice "oakey" chardonney. (No doubt some Japanese tea ceremony purists would be offended by my use of the yunomi. But as I like to tell customers in the gallery.. there are no "pottery police." You buy it -- You can do whatever you want with it.)
So, in trying to share with you the yunomi, perhaps I'll have to borrow a bit from the Supreme Court and say.. "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."
Or don't see it.
For example, I'm pretty sure these by Jeff Kleckner are too tall. Maybe they're too tall for their diameter or they're just too tall, I don't know.
I like Jeff's work because he does interesting things with the patterns, but since he uses the same glaze palette on all his pots, they all "play very nicely" together. Here's a set of six, for example. Three different patterns, yet they look great together and if you set them around your table, no one would gasp in horror because they "didn't match."
They may not be yunomi, but they are great for orange juice in the morning.
They are just under 5" tall, and just over 3" in diameter. $35/each.
I'm pretty sure these are way too small. (I'm beginning to feel bit like Goldilocks here, no?)
These are from Barb Campbell and I think they are totally engaging -- I love the contrast between the strong interior color and the stark black and white exterior. And here's another case where they are definitely a set, but none of them match at all. Isn't it much more interesting that way?
They are 2 1/2" tall and just over 2" in diameter. $17.50/each.
These from Sam Taylor could also be too small, but on the other hand, they might be able to pass because of their shape -- low and wide.
They are 2 1/4" tall and just over 3" wide. $28/each.
Speaking of low and wide.
These won't count because they are oblong. Anne Elliot makes these and she calls them "palm cups" (no doubt to avoid the issue entirely). All of her pots are hand-built. She rolls out slabs of clay, and then folds them into the shapes she wants, and seals the overlapping clay. They have ever-so wonderful little round bottoms that fit... you guessed it... right in your palm. I have these two in green, and...
...these three in white.
All are 2 1/4" tall X 3 1/2" wide X 3" deep. $25/each.
We are finally getting there with these from Julie Crosby (top row) and Michael Kline (botton row).
Julie's are 3 1/4" tall and about 3" in diameter. $25/each.
Michael's are 3 3/4" tall and 3 3/4" wide.
I don't know about you, but I'm sensing a trend.
This beauty is from Sequoia Miller. The orange/white glaze is called shino. Shino can be either white or orange or black, or any mixture thereof. The potter can't control what happens to the glaze in the firing at all, which is a source of tremendous frustration for some potters, who are always in search of .. "the perfect shino." And of course, there is endless debate about exactly what does constitute "the perfect shino." Is it mostly white with just a twinge of orange? Must there be black (which is carbon from the fire, trapped in the glaze)? What if it's completely orange? Endless debate. Or perhaps just endless variety.
It is 3 1/4" tall and 3 1/2" wide. (Hmmmm. Interesting.. very interesting). $35.
Finally.. we wind up with a couple of definitive yunomi by Phil Rogers. The center one doesn't qualify, but it adds interest to the image, don't you think?
The yunomi are 3 1/4" tall and 3 1/4" in diameter (oh yes. Definitely a trend.) The one in the center, which I believe I can safely call a chawan, is 2 1/2" tall and 3 1/4" wide. $225/each.
I won't repeat the image here, but the black honeycombed yunomi from Mark Shapiro in last week's newsletter is still available. The black and white one in that image found a home in Texas. I'm sure it will be very well cared for there.
Next week... Tea time -- a delightful look at the various and sundry teapots in the gallery.
I've got a week to come up with a better name for that edition. I'll be working on that.
Have a good one.
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