The fine balance between fire and clay
Design engineer makes it his life's mission to bring back the ancient craftsmanship of black pottery, taking it out of museum collections and into homes for everyday use, Wang Xin reports.
The turning point came in 2015, when Song accidentally learned from a friend that Tinglin town harbored exceptionally high-quality clay, and his ambition was instantly kindled. As a Jinshan native with established connections in the art world, he felt a responsibility to showcase Jinshan's culture through art and to introduce the district's black pottery to Shanghai and then the nation.
But Song's team soon encountered significant challenges. They took it for granted that black clay could make black pottery — a misunderstanding the team spent nearly three years resolving. Struggling through numerous attempts and failures, as well as mental and financial challenges, Song continued to lead the team faithfully and relentlessly. Finally, they found the key.
The essential technique in making black pottery is not using blackened clay, but rather the complex ancient method of carburization during the firing process.
The firing of black pottery is both a science and an art, reliant on experience. The black pottery in Tinglin town is made from a local bluish-purple clay. The processes of digging, sun-drying, filtering, and settling the clay take around seven days. After shaping the vessels, drying and firing them take another four to five days, making a complete firing cycle at least 10 days.
The firing process is even more critical. In traditional black pottery firing, the dried clay objects are placed directly into the kiln. When the temperature reaches 800 C, woods and rice husks containing moisture are added to the kiln, which is then completely sealed, allowing the firing to continue under oxygen-deprived conditions. This process generates dense smoke, allowing carbon molecules to permeate the objects and complete the carburization.
Firing was even more challenging for Song, as he expected to "produce jet-black, lustrous, and hard black pottery at a temperature of 1300 C". He had to precisely control the temperature and pressure inside the kiln, judging the firing stage by listening to the sounds and observing the colors beside the raging flames to capture the right moment to add materials.
"Making a perfect piece of black pottery requires some luck," he says. Each time Song opened the kiln, he felt like he was opening a blind box, with disappointment being his usual reaction.
