Mishima Clay Bowls
Ohio Standards: Compare works of art to one another in terms of the historical, cultural, and social influences evident in the works.
Select a cultural and create an original work of art that demonstrates understanding of a culture.
Background: Korea occupies a position midway between China and Japan, and in the past it has done much to influence art in Japan by transmitting Chinese influences. The pottery and porcelain of Korea is original both in form and decoration, and some Korean products rank with the finest Far Eastern Wares.
A characteristic Koryu technique, which hardly occurs elsewhere in the Orient, is termed mishima in Japan. The mishima decoration was inlaid into the raw clay surface in black and white clay in conjunction with a celadon glaze. The name is derived from a small island midway between Korea and Japan at which wares of this kind were made. The same period is also noted for celadons with deeply carved and pierced ornament.
During the Yi dynasty [1392-1910] the mishima decoration was continued in the early years, and from the sixteenth century a type of porcelain, often opaque, with a grayish glaze, was clumsily made, but superbly decorated with sure brushwork with birds, floral and foliate, and abstract motifs, painted in blackish-blue, or sometimes copper red.
Objectives: Create mishima inlay, Become familiar with clay vocabulary and process, demonstrate good craftsmanship
Materials: clay, pencils, colored slip. scrapers, cultural design examples
Vocabulary: clay-natural substance made form weathered granite, wedging-working the clay to an even consistency with no air bubbles, slip-liquid clay, score-cross hatch marks, bisque-first firing, kiln-oven to heat and solidify the clay at high temperatures, glaze-glass coating that decorates and seals the surface
Procedure: Decorating pottery using slip in the mishima technique is very similar to wood or stone inlay in its effect. First, the leather-hard clay is incised in the desired pattern. Contrasting slip is then applied to and forced into the incised design. Slip will need to overflow the incised designs, as the slip will shrink somewhat as it dries. After the slip has dried, the entire area is scraped flush to the original surface level. This reveals the original clay body and the slip which remains embedded in the incised design. Mishima can be a very elegant decorative technique. It is also used for the ability to achieve hard edges and lines.
After the clay bowls are completely dry they are bisque fired, glazed with either clear or celadon glaze and fired again.
Evaluation: Use of a cultural resource ____ / 15
Craftsmanship – Clean edges,
finished, refined ____ / 20
Decoration – Complex and
unified ____/ 20
Mishima slip technique ____ /15
Structural integrity – No cracks,
pieces attached well,
even walls ____/ 15
Glaze – clean bottom,
painted evenly ____/ 15
Total Points ____ /100