Gốm sứ mỹ nghệ · Fine ceramics · Unique
Moon jar, ash glaze
Men tro — ash glaze, made from rice-straw ash and clay; no two kiln loads come out the same.
Phạm Văn Đức
Thrown in two halves and joined at the belly — the only way a jar this round can be made on a wheel — and glazed in the family’s ash glaze, which is rice-straw ash and one clay and nothing written down. The wood fire laid more ash on one side than the other, and the glaze ran.
It is not quite symmetrical. The village says a moon jar should not be: the slight lean is the maker’s hand, and the heavier glaze on one side is the fire’s.
- Materials
- White river clay, rice-straw ash glaze
- Technique
- Thrown in two halves and joined; wood-fired
- Dimensions
- Ø 29 × 31 cm · Ø 11.4 × 12.2 in · 4.1 kg
- Edition
- Unique work · Signed and sealed on the reverse
- Made
- Bát Tràng, Gia Lâm · 2026
The making
One firing, in four movements
A moon jar is two bowls that agree to be one thing, and a fire that decides the rest.
I
The halves
Two bowls thrown thin and left to firm overnight.
II
The join
Joined rim to rim, the seam worked out from inside, the jar left a week to dry.
III
The glaze
Rice-straw ash glaze, dipped; the foot wiped clean.
IV
The fire
Wood-fired through the night; opened at dawn.
From the same village
