Handmade Ikebana Container Boat Suiban 1221-004

Feature:
- A hand made ikebana container (Japanese Flower arrangement vase) made by Thomas and Kathy Arakawa
- Authentic, natural, organic glazing
- Deeper earthy clay tone and rich glaze color

Please visit Pottery-In-Action page to view examples by ikebana sensei and artists.

Product Detail
SKU: 1221-004
Artist: Thomas and Kathy Arakawa
Material - Clay: Porcelain
Material - Glaze: Blue Celadon
Dimension (L x W x H): 18 x 7.5 x 5

Hand Made Process
Design: We design each containers with functionality, usability and harmony in mind. The color and tone is kept low-key but interesting and authentic for the reason. We improve the functionality and ease of use of our containers through working with hundreds professionals and artists.

Throwing and Hand-build: This container is made on the potter's wheel by Thomas Arakawa individually. Shaping the form is done by just fingers and measure several times to make sure the dimensions are close to desirable size. When the piece is half dry state like leather-hard, the piece is hand over to Kathy Lee-Arakawa for hand-building process.

Glazing: Thomas and Kathy apply glaze individually by hand in order to get the authentic, natural, organic aesthetics. Each glaze has unique particular thickness and clay body selection makes variety of tones. We monitor specific gravity of the glaze (ratio between glaze and water) and application method and timing.

Firing: The container is finished with our high-fire reduction firing process which brings the deeper earthy clay tone and rich glaze color. During this 13-hours-long firing process, we reduce the oxygen level inside the kiln in varying degree from 1600F to 2300F. The result of the firing also depend on how kiln are loaded. The density and negative space between the pottery create channel for the flame to travel in various speeds. We use our understanding of the nature/tendency of flame in the kiln to control the atmosphere which each pottery should be in. As a result, our containers holds a low-key but complex deeper tone.

Water Testing: We test our containers by filling up with water for 24 hrs and check if there is any leak. However, it is hand made product so we cannot say 100%. But we have sold over 2000 containers and just few has water leaks/sweating problems and we replace all containers with leak with new containers. So we are confident that there would not be any issues.