This year’s bonsai pots

I haven’t posted anything about bonsai pots made by me this year. There is only a handfull and they are not that impressive. Nevertheless, I would like to record some of them here. Few were fired in an electric kiln (see images below).

Images above:

1 – 9 x 6.5 cm, round, stoneware, rutile glaze

2 – 24 x 6 cm, round, stoneware, tenmoku over rutile grlaze

2a – close-up of the rim

2b – close-up of a glaze “tear”

3 – 17 x 8 cm, round, stoneware, white glaze

4 – 16.5 x 6.5 cm, round, stoneware, rutile glaze

I also had a couple of pots fired in a wood-fired kiln. To my surprise they were rather plain (see images below).

Image above left – 15 x 6 cm, round, stoneware, rutile glaze

Image above right – 14.5 x 5 cm, round, stoneware, white glaze

There was also something I’ve never done before. I put a bonsai pot though a raku firing. As you can see form the images below it ended up “in tears”, happy tears in this particular case (see the close-up below). The pot is 17 x 5 cm, round, decorated with white crackle glaze. 

You may say raku firing is useless for bonsai pots. The clay is not fully vitrified and the pots will not be durable. You are right, but such pots can be waterproofed with one of the products available on the market and used only for the duration of an exhibition. I think it was still worth it!