Shino soda-fired round bottle vase

Round bottle vase with thick brushed hakeme slip under a shino glaze.
The action of the soda on the shino glaze has enhanced the striped effect of the brush strokes, and given a wide tonal range from white to red as the flame has licked around the pot.

Vapour fired to 1300 C in a gas kiln.
 
Soda, or vapour, firing is a firing process where sodium in some form - sodium carbonate or bicarbonate, is introduced into the kiln as a solution when the temperature is at 1250˚C. The soda immediately volatises, and combines with the silica in the clay to form a lustrous glaze with often spectacular surfaces where the flame has licked around the pot, taking the soda with it. The randomness of this process gives each pot its own unique character. Prior to firing, the pots are dipped into different clay slips (liquid clay) to give different colours and effects.