One, two, three and Fire!

So, after the pottery has been formed and dried completely it will be fired to stay in this shape permanently. The kilns I have experiences in Vietnam are the normal kilns and the Dragon kilns. What are the differences?

Kiln

The firing happens in a kiln. A kiln is a type of oven that produces temperatures to complete processes like hardening, drying and chemical changing. A kiln in Vietnam is made of bricks and the opening will be lay by bricks after the pottery is placed.  To fire the pottery, the kilns are fueled with rice husk or wood.

Kiln and rice husk

The Dragon kiln

The Jagama, also known as the Dragon kiln is also a common used kiln in Vietnam. The combination of Anagama, Noborigama and the Waritake kilns is the Jagama. Wait, what?

Jagama

Anagama

Anagama

The Anagama is considered the oldest kiln. The single-chamber, tunnel-shaped kiln (Anagama) is build with an opening in the front (1). After the opening, the firebox is found. (2) In the middle there is a stacking floor. (3) Dampers are found at the end of the stacking floor. (4) And next to the dampers, the flue is found. (5) The flue is an opening in a chimney to transport the exhaust gases from the firebox. (6)

The Anagama is fueled with wood. A continuous supply of fuel is needed for firing as wood is consumed rapidly in a hot kiln. Burning wood produces heat and wood ashes that will settle on the pottery during the firing. The interaction between flame, ash and the minerals of the clay forms a natural ash glaze. The appearance of the pottery depends on the placement of the pottery, the closer the pottery is to the firebox, the heavier the coat of ash is. 

The Anagama style kiln, Waritake, has the Anagama style but walls are built every meter through the length of the kiln. Each partition can be stoked aside.

The multi-chamber kiln (Noborigama) is built on a slope. The Noborigama is a chambered climbing kiln and each chamber is situated higher than the other one before. Also all the chambers have stoking ports.

When we combine the Anagama, Noborigama and the Waritake, we have the Jagama.

So now the Jagama, this kiln is a long tube shaped kiln up on a slope and divided by improvised walls which are created by stacking pottery. Each “chamber” has a stoking port and the fire starts from under and climbs slowly up.

In general, all these kilns are unpredictable. That is why no glazed potteries are fired in these kilns. (Glazed potteries are fired in the gas kilns.)The firing process takes days and the most important part of the firing process is the right cooling off. If the potteries are taken out too soon, the pottery might have cracks or even break. 

Thank you for passing by today!

Rosa Planters Vietnam