Japanese Pottery Glossary

A milky-glazed pitcher with two mugs, a single thin indigo line of gosu drawn around each mug's body and dark clay showing through in places

Gosu: The Cobalt Blue Behind Japanese Sometsuke

Gosu is a blue mineral pigment based on cobalt oxide, with iron and manganese present as well. All of the indigo in sometsuke comes from gosu.

Gosu: The Cobalt Blue Behind Japanese Sometsuke

Gosu is a blue mineral pigment based on cobalt oxide, with iron and manganese present as well. All of the indigo in sometsuke comes from gosu.

Trimming the rim of an angular piece set upside down on the wheel with a two-handed tool, a thin ribbon of clay peeling away

Tatara-zukuri: Building Pottery from Clay Slabs

Tatara-zukuri is the technique of cutting clay into slabs of even thickness with a wire or thread, then assembling them into a form.

Tatara-zukuri: Building Pottery from Clay Slabs

Tatara-zukuri is the technique of cutting clay into slabs of even thickness with a wire or thread, then assembling them into a form.

A milky square plate painted inside with small berried sprigs in pale cobalt, dried flowers laid alongside

Sometsuke: Blue and White Porcelain, Explained

Sometsuke is the technique of drawing a design on a white porcelain body with gosu, covering it with a clear glaze, and firing at high temperature.

Sometsuke: Blue and White Porcelain, Explained

Sometsuke is the technique of drawing a design on a white porcelain body with gosu, covering it with a clear glaze, and firing at high temperature.

Octagonal white porcelain plates stacked on a workshop shelf, red key-fret at the rim and flowers drawn inside in indigo line, one plate in front still blank

Shita-etsuke: Underglaze Painting and Why It Ne...

Shita-etsuke is the technique of painting directly on a body that has been through bisque firing, covering it with a clear glaze and firing at high temperature.

Shita-etsuke: Underglaze Painting and Why It Ne...

Shita-etsuke is the technique of painting directly on a body that has been through bisque firing, covering it with a clear glaze and firing at high temperature.

Kohiki lobed plates and small dishes on a concrete table, red-brown body showing at the rims of the milky glaze with glaze pooling darker in the petal relief

Kohiki Pottery: The White Slip Technique, Expla...

Kohiki is the technique of applying white slip to a red-brown or grey body high in iron, then covering it with a clear glaze and firing.

Kohiki Pottery: The White Slip Technique, Expla...

Kohiki is the technique of applying white slip to a red-brown or grey body high in iron, then covering it with a clear glaze and firing.

An unglazed cylindrical cup and square plate, ash-darkened black patches spreading across the pale, bare clay surface

Yakishime: Unglazed Pottery Fired to Its Limit

Yakishime is the technique of firing the clay itself hard at high temperature — around 1,200–1,300°C — over a long span, with no glaze applied to the surface at all.

Yakishime: Unglazed Pottery Fired to Its Limit

Yakishime is the technique of firing the clay itself hard at high temperature — around 1,200–1,300°C — over a long span, with no glaze applied to the surface at all.