Tamba pottery, view 08., wheel in the Ichino workshop

Tamba pottery, view 08., wheel in the Ichino workshop

Arts-Ceramics;

Potter's wheel in the Ichino workshop at Tamba-Tachikui. This is a "Korean-style" wheel, which is operated by kicking or, usually, with a pawing action of the left foot, rather than with the wheel head stick that is customary in most traditional Japanese potteries. The "fly-wheel" is relatively small and is made of wood, so it has little weight and carries limited momentum, meaning that the wheel must be "kicked" almost constantly and that the rotation speed is slower than would be the case on a western, European-style kick wheel. One other point of interest is the fact that the Korean wheel is kicked counter-clockwise, the same as a potter would work in the west, while Japanese style wheels are rotated clockwise. The direction of rotation of a potter's wheel often will provide a clue as to whether the potter is working from a tradition that is purely Japanese or from a tradition that is influenced by the Korean potters who were brought to Japan by Hideyoshi after his Korean campai

Editorial assistant: Sandy Augustin. Collection Librarian: Amy Bryant. Please send any questions, comments, or content corrections to Michael Thiedeman, Professor of Art, Earlham College, Richmond, IN 47374 USA. email address: thiedmi@earlham.edu

Thiedeman, Michael

Earlham College

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Japan

Japan - Showa 1926 - 1989

Kinki (region), Kyoto Prefecture, Tamba (inhabited place)

1081500

905 h x 616 w, 96 ppi