OUR STORY

10

TREATING EACH PIECE WITH CARE

The decorative fine cracks on the surface of ceramics are called crackle or crazing. In pottery making in general, glaze is applied to the clay body before firing in the kiln. The glaze melts and gives a glassy surface to the clay body. When a piece of pottery cools down after firing, the contraction of the clay body and glaze coating won't match, causing cracks to appear in the hardened glaze.This is called crackleware. Crackleware can be used safely. Since crackle is not cracks on the body itself, it does not cause soup to leak or the piece to break.

The crackle may appear naturally during normal use, which is called long-term moisture expansion. This is caused by the expansion of the clay body when a piece of pottery is heated by hot food or drink. Crackle creates various appearances in a piece during use as the colors of oil and food stain in cracks. This is a characteristic of handcrafted pottery. In a sense, this may be similar to the long-used leather products and jeans.

There is a technique for repairing broken pottery called kintsugi. This is done by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with gold. Not only can you keep your favorite piece for a long time, but the repaired joint creates a new design, making it your own unique piece of pottery.

At Musubi Kiln, we are here to help so that you can keep your dishware for long-time and live an environmentally friendly life.