Post 65 Tokoname Pot

Last post I said we'd look at my Tokoname pots. Well I pretty sure one is. I've owned it for perhaps 15 years and it has been in service all that time. That shows how long I've been struggling with the pot problem. This is the most expensive pot I've ever bought and looking back I think I must have scored a Christmas bonus or the like. Easy come easy go. Buy on emotion and defend on logic; I guess I may have also just been keen to be a Tokoname owner.

This pot is an unglazed buff coloured rectangular pot about 360mm long. As in the last post the only cleaning of the pot I've done for the photograph is a wipe with a damp cloth.

As you can see from this and the next picture the surface really is as good as new. You just wouldn't imagine it's been out in the weather for 15 years. As you would expect from Tokoname it is clearly a high fired very impervious clay body fired to maturity. This is the unglazed surface standard to aspire to and it can only be achieved in Stoneware.

Other evidence of the high firing to maturity is the very slight arch the pot has taken up. This as I well know can occur during the vitrification transformation as the material becomes plastic, shrinks and closes up the spaces between the particles, ensurng impermeability.

This once again reinforces the Earthenware / Stoneware dichotomy. As another clear indicator when buying pots  - those that are absolutely square and flat and smooth will be highly likely to be low fired or heavily grogged and not fully vitrified. Do not shun pots that show a little dimensional imperfection as this is an indicator of material characteristics that will give you the better long term performance. The skilled maker can do various things to minimse these artifacts of vitrification, as he has with this pot, but if you look carefully you will always find the evidence, if it is there to be found.
Here is a more detailed shot of the corner of the pot. There is quite a bit of granularity in the clay which gives the surface a little texture.

Here is the underside with the original price tag on it and the chop. If anyone can precisely identifyy this please let me know. Just above the drainage hole you can see the word JAPAN impressed into the clay.

And from the underside a couple of shots of the feet. This is the first time I've really looked critically at them and got a bit of a surprise. I have to say that I'm a little underwhealmed. They look great from the viewing front but from under here they are a little less shipshape than I would now expect. I like to think that ALL the pot should be finished to the same high standard as the outsde; including the underside and inside.

That minor point aside I'm still pleased to own this pot. Aesthetically it wins and that impervious surface offers a pot ready to bring inside for tree display with no more than a wipeover with a damp cloth.
Acquiring bonsai pots is a bit like buying furniture. You can buy function very cheaply; but that's the furniture you often see on the footpath after a couple of years when there's a Council cleanup. I've heard it said many times that you should, when you can over time, buy a few high quality, timelessly designed, well built pieces that will last a lifetime, age gracefully but always look good and can be handed on to the next gereration. Good advice.