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[April 2003]
Gyokuji - a Fine Ceramic Tea Service
Kyocera Corporation in Japan has announced that it has developed 'Gyokuji', a new fine ceramic tea service and an original objet d'art. This service has been produced using the company's most advanced, innovative technology in the field of jewellery and is finished using a traditional Satsuma painting technique.The service has been created by firing corundum in a vacuum at super high temperature. It is carefully polished with diamond powder after being removed from the kiln and is given a mirror or frosted finish. It features a natural, pure gloss and the deep colour of fine ceramics. The material is also said to possess a peculiar transmittance and clarity as well as high strength.
The service is painted using the traditional technique of Kotsugaki, which originally came from White Satsuma of Satsuma Ware. Kotsugaki is a technique in which the outline of a pattern is drawn with a gold solution and the framed parts carefully filled in with paints. Colours such as gold and cinnabar are applied to the surface of the ware.
The painted pieces are fired in Iso-oniwayaki, a kiln which was established in the Edo era by Nariakira Shimazu, the 28th Lord of the Satsuma clan, for the exclusive use of the lord. 95% of the production of Iso-oniwayaki is White Satsuma and the pottery is directly managed by the Shimazu family which preserved this tradition.
Kyocera said: "Gyokuji is a unification of cutting-edge technology with delicate, traditional beauty to create a new dimension in both the fields of tea services and art". As an example, the Maccha tea bowl (124mm diameter, 80mm height) is priced from 320,000 yen (around £1,695).
ENDS