Unique Piece Wood-Fired Soda Kiln Kohiki Blue Gaiwan 100ml

Product Specifications

Capacity: 100ml

Diameter:8.5cm

Height: 7.5cm

Material: Coarse Clay & Kohiki Glaze

Food Safe: Yes

Packaging: Premium gift box

This gaiwan represents a rare marriage of ceramic techniques: Kohiki and soda wood-firing. The result is a vessel that carries the soft, slip-covered warmth of Korean-inspired Kohiki tradition, transformed by the unpredictable alchemy of Western-style soda kiln firing into something entirely new—a blue that recalls sunlit Mediterranean seas.

Kohiki, is a ceramic technique that originated in Korea's Buncheong tradition and was later adopted and refined by Japanese potters, particularly in the Karatsu and Hagi regions . The method involves applying a white slip (liquid clay) over a darker clay body before glazing. This slip layer creates a soft, powdery surface quality that feels warm and slightly absorbent to the touch.

For this piece, the Kohiki slip is formulated to interact with the soda kiln atmosphere, becoming the canvas for blue coloration rather than remaining white.

Instead of traditional salt firing (now largely discontinued for environmental reasons), this bowl was fired in a soda wood-kiln. During the firing, a solution of soda ash (sodium carbonate) is sprayed into the kiln at high temperatures—typically around 1300°C . The soda vaporizes and reacts with the silica in the clay body and slip, creating a natural glassy glaze on the surface.

Unlike salt firing, soda firing offers greater control while still producing the characteristic orange-peel texture and colorful flashing that wood-firing enthusiasts prize . The interaction between the soda vapor, the Kohiki slip, and the wood ash creates the blue coloration—a result of specific mineral reactions within the kiln atmosphere.