Living with handmade ceramics

Daily use

These pieces are made to be used, not displayed. The stoneware is fired high, the functional glazes are stable and food-safe, and nothing about daily tea, coffee, or food will harm the work. A cup that is used every day is doing exactly what it was made for.

Washing

Hand washing with warm water and ordinary dish soap is the kindest routine and takes seconds — most pieces rinse clean. Vitrified stoneware survives the dishwasher, but repeated machine cycles are abrasive company for any handmade object: hard contact with other dishes causes most chips, not the water. If you use the machine, load the piece where nothing knocks against it.

Avoid scouring powders and steel wool. For tea staining inside a cup, a paste of baking soda and water lifts it gently.

Heat, cold, and thermal shock

The one real enemy of any ceramic — handmade or industrial — is sudden temperature change. Do not pour boiling water into a cup that is freezing cold, and do not take a piece from the refrigerator to a hot oven. Let temperature change happen gradually and the piece will outlive its owner.

These pieces are not made for stovetop or open-flame use. Microwaves are generally fine for functional glazed work, but never microwave a piece with visible metallic surfaces.

Crackle glazes

Crackle-glazed pieces carry a deliberate net of fine lines in the glass. Over years of use, tea and coffee will slowly darken those lines. This is intended — in the Japanese tradition this deepening is the piece recording its life with you. If you prefer the lines to stay light, rinse the piece soon after use rather than letting tea stand in it overnight.

The unglazed foot

The bare clay ring on the underside is left unglazed by necessity — it is where the piece stood in the kiln. It arrives smoothed, but on precious surfaces a cloth or coaster is a reasonable habit, as bare stoneware is harder than most wood finishes.