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Message:: [QUOTE="Taupou, post: 9564173, member: 45"]All I know is that it isn't what is technically called "American raku," or "post-firing reduction."  Which is not the same as Japanese Raku. "American raku" is a method of firing started in the late 1950's by Paul Soldner, and adapted from Japanese pottery.  It is made with commercial clay, thrown and trimmed on a potter's wheel, glazed, and fired in a kiln. It is not to be confused with Japanese Raku pottery, which dates back to the 1500s, and has become closely tied to the tea ceremony ever since.  The symbol " 楽 " which means raku, has association with enjoyment, pleasure, happiness, and comfort, and embodies the tea ceremony. Tanaka Chojiro was the first-generation head of the Raku potter family, and "Raku" was given to him as an addition to Chojiro’s family name.  It was the first Japanese pottery to  include a seal mark. There followed 15 generations of master potters from the Raku family who are entitled to use the name Raku, and the seal mark on their pots. So this may be Japanese, but it isn't Japanese raku, either. [/QUOTE]