What is raku?
Raku means literally: the art of the fire.
Raku is a Japanese firing method, which originates from the 16th Century tea
ceremony and is based on the tradition of Zen Buddhism.
During this ceremony, in which every action and every gesture had its
meaning, one could glaze one’s own tea bowl.
This bowl was baked in a kiln in the garden.
As soon as the glaze had been melted - at a temperature of 1000 to 1100
degrees Celsius – the bowl was taken out of the fire with fire-tongs,
smothered in straw, sawdust or leaves and cooled down in water.
The bowl, which was still warm, was immediately filled with tea, thus
staying hot for a long time, being a welcomed accidental circumstance,
because a tea ceremony took a long time.
During the process of cooling down two things happen: because of the big
change of temperature the glaze “startles” and forms bursts, called crackle,
that are filled with soot particles from the combustible material.
Moreover these soot particles attach to places where there is no glaze,
developing itself into a dark grey almost black surface.
In deference to the Zen Buddhism I don’t make tea bowls; I only make use of the firing method and design contemporary objects.