3.5 Inch Diameter x 1.5 Inch Deep Bushuan Round Bonsai Pot #747 – Crackled Glaze, Glazed, Chop Mark

A crackle glaze, and it is worth knowing why it does that. Glaze and clay shrink at different rates as a pot cools. When the glaze contracts more than the body underneath it, it cannot stretch, so it splits into a web of fine lines instead. Potters who want the effect choose the pairing deliberately and control how fine or how open the network comes out. Bushuan built his reputation on exactly that kind of control, reproducing the effects of the old wood-fired climbing kilns inside a modern electric one.

This one is hand formed and small, with the chop on the base. At this size a crackle reads as texture rather than as pattern, which is the difference between a glaze that competes with a tree and one that simply gives it a surface to sit against.

At 3.5 inches across and 1.5 inches deep this is mame scale and very shallow. It is a pot for an accent planting, a small grass, or a mame tree whose roots are fully developed. It will dry fast, and a crackled surface picks up watering marks over the years, which most collectors count as patina rather than wear.