Japanese Pottery Glossary

A potter’s clay-covered hands raising the wall of a cup-shaped bowl on a turning wheel — the wheel technology that arrived in Japan together with sueki stoneware

Sueki: The Grey Stoneware That Began Japanese ...

Sueki is the grey, hard-fired stoneware that arrived from the Korean Peninsula in the Kofun period — thrown on a wheel and fired hot in a tunnel kiln under reduction....

Sueki: The Grey Stoneware That Began Japanese ...

Sueki is the grey, hard-fired stoneware that arrived from the Korean Peninsula in the Kofun period — thrown on a wheel and fired hot in a tunnel kiln under reduction....

White slip kohiki plates and a lobed dish on concrete, the red-brown clay body showing through at the rims and foot

Shirogeshou: How Japanese Potters Make Dark Cla...

Shirogeshou is the decorating technique of coating a clay body that fires red or grey with a white liquid clay — white slip, also called engobe — so that the...

Shirogeshou: How Japanese Potters Make Dark Cla...

Shirogeshou is the decorating technique of coating a clay body that fires red or grey with a white liquid clay — white slip, also called engobe — so that the...

Three shinogi pieces on a grey table seen from above, the large plate carved radially from the centre and the small bowl and chopstick rest grooved along their rims

Shinogi: The Carved Ridges on Japanese Pottery

Among the surface decorations of Japanese ceramics, few carry as quiet a presence as shinogi.

Shinogi: The Carved Ridges on Japanese Pottery

Among the surface decorations of Japanese ceramics, few carry as quiet a presence as shinogi.

Potter's hands wedging a lump of clay on a wooden board in a Japanese pottery studio

Ara-neri (rough wedging)

Ara-neri or rough wedging, is the first of the two wedging stages that prepare clay before a piece is shaped. Ara means "rough" and neri means "kneading." A lump of clay...

Ara-neri (rough wedging)

Ara-neri or rough wedging, is the first of the two wedging stages that prepare clay before a piece is shaped. Ara means "rough" and neri means "kneading." A lump of clay...

Four faceted sake cups against a dark ground, amber and green glaze pooling differently on each cut plane and darkening along the ridges

Mentori: The Faceted Surfaces of Japanese Pottery

Mentori, faceting, is the technique of cutting away the surface of a formed piece to create flat planes.

Mentori: The Faceted Surfaces of Japanese Pottery

Mentori, faceting, is the technique of cutting away the surface of a formed piece to create flat planes.

Two katakuchi on a concrete floor, the nearer a bowl mottled red-brown with a long drawn spout, the further one dark and glossy with carved ribbing

Katakuchi: The Japanese Lipped Bowl and How to ...

A katakuchi is a bowl-shaped piece with a pouring lip on one side only. Kata means one side, kuchi means lip: the name describes the form exactly.

Katakuchi: The Japanese Lipped Bowl and How to ...

A katakuchi is a bowl-shaped piece with a pouring lip on one side only. Kata means one side, kuchi means lip: the name describes the form exactly.