Lichen Stone Bowl

These ash glazed tea bowls are made by Tian Yanting (田彥廷) of Youni Kiln, a Taiwanese ceramic artist devoted to teaware and the son of Tian Chengtai, whose bowls many in our community know well. Wood firing and ash glazes have long been his creative vocabulary, and across different firing methods he explores the expression of clay, fire and glaze. His work gives weight to the relationship between the vessel and the chaxi, pursuing a texture that is natural, restrained and rich with a sense of time.

Lichen Stone is fired once, at 1,240°C. A single firing leaves the ash glaze holding its texture: a soft sage green across the walls, freckled with amber and rust where the ash lies thickest, gathering darker in the well with a faint metallic sheen. Rather than vivid color, Tian Yanting is drawn to the quiet, reserved quality of ash glaze, allowing subtle shifts in tone, luster and texture to reveal their layers gradually with the light, the tea and the passage of use.

The glaze is made from natural wood ash rather than a mixed recipe, so no two firings are alike. The ash varies in consistency from batch to batch, and it oxidises differently each time it is fired, shifting the finished color toward green, amber or gray. Every bowl is its own. When you order a set of five we choose pieces that sit well together, though they will never be identical, and that is the nature of the work.

Each set of five bowls comes with two hand-sewn cloths made by a seamstress here in Miaoli. One is a long white strip woven between the bowls to pad and protect them in transit, and the other is a square of Japanese cloth, in various patterns and colors, used to bundle the bowls together so you can take them out with you.

These handmade bowls hold approximately 175ml.