Raku pottery is a hand fired technique originatng in Japan. each piece is hand fired in an outdoor kiln : when the glaze has melted the pieces are extracted while still red hot and put into a container with straw and covered tightly. the resulting smoke causes the clay to turn black and produce irridescent and metallic effects, giving raku it's distinctive qualities. It's a labour intensive process and at low temperature the ware is fragile so many pieces do not survive. Nonetheless the technique produces such startlingly beautiful results that it is as compelling to make as it is to own.