{"product_id":"firebox-tokoname","title":"Firebox: Shinrin-yoku","description":"\u003cp style=\"font-size:0.75rem;letter-spacing:0.12em;text-transform:uppercase;margin-bottom:0.25em;margin-top:0\"\u003eAbout\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWheel-thrown stoneware. Woodfired at a pottery studio in the Tokoname forest, Japan, October 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA vessel, the one piece each artist was allowed to place directly in the kiln's firebox.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e19 × 13 cm (7.5 × 5.1 in)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"font-size:0.75rem;letter-spacing:0.12em;text-transform:uppercase;margin-bottom:0.25em;margin-top:1.5em\"\u003eThe Making\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe firebox is the riskiest spot in a wood-fired kiln: closest to the flame, first to take the heat, first to take a hit if a log shifts. Each of us got one piece in there. High risk, high reward. I was nervous mine would get knocked by falling wood. It survived untouched.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe texture comes from two things: a slip applied after shaping, and a heavy deposit of wood ash, since the firebox takes more ember and ash than anywhere else in the kiln.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy favorite detail is the drip: five lines, almost symmetrical, where melting ash ran down the surface as it formed. Some of that slip was iron-rich, which gives the red tones. There are also small blue shadows and crystals scattered across it, both rare and hard to get in a wood firing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdetails style=\"margin-top:1.5em\"\u003e\u003csummary style=\"list-style:none;cursor:pointer;display:flex;align-items:center;gap:0.4em\"\u003e\u003cp style=\"font-size:0.75rem;letter-spacing:0.12em;text-transform:uppercase;margin:0;display:inline\"\u003eThe Firing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-size:0.85em;opacity:0.6\"\u003eRead more ▾\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/summary\u003e\u003cp\u003eMade during three weeks at a pottery studio in the Tokoname forest, Japan, a city built on pottery, threaded by a footpath paved with broken ceramic shards and a centuries-old climbing kiln leaning into the hillside. This was my first wood firing, and the studio itself had a small, family feel, like living in a village.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe kiln was an anagama: a single-chamber, tunnel-shaped wood kiln, one of the oldest kiln types in Japan, brought over from Korea around the 5th century. This one had only a front stoke hole, no side stoking. The approach here, taught by kiln master Peter Seabridge, isn't about speed. It's about pacing: watching the thermometer, watching the chimney through a mirror in the window, and judging when to feed it again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI worked two shifts, both mornings, about 10 hours each. In the first, the temperature climbed from 260°C to 1020°C. In the second, it rose from 1214°C to 1255°C, crossing the 1250°C mark. The kiln peaked at 1260°C. There was no reduction cooling at the end, just a long climb up and back down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo glaze was applied to any piece. Everything you see on the surface is ash, clay body, and slip.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/details\u003e","brand":"Kutega","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51974968541480,"sku":null,"price":200.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/1993\/9368\/files\/IMG_3476_1.jpg?v=1781710176","url":"https:\/\/kutega.com\/products\/firebox-tokoname","provider":"Kutega","version":"1.0","type":"link"}