{"product_id":"oval-crackle-glazed-stoneware-bonsai-pot-collared-rim-and-cloud-feet-drainage-and-wire-tie-holes-c-1960-2000","title":"Oval Crackle-Glazed Stoneware Bonsai Pot, Collared Rim and Cloud Feet, Drainage and Wire-Tie Holes, c. 1950–1970","description":"  \u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn oval bonsai container in a soft cream glaze broken all over by a fine crackle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe body swells gently and is cut by \u003cstrong\u003etwo incised horizontal lines\u003c\/strong\u003e running right around the lower wall — turned with a tool against the wheel while the clay was still leather-hard, which is why they hold their depth evenly the whole way around.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rim \u003cstrong\u003eflares outward into a collar\u003c\/strong\u003e, a raised lip standing slightly proud of the wall, and the pot sits on \u003cstrong\u003esmall cloud feet\u003c\/strong\u003e, the short scrolled brackets that lift a bonsai container clear of its stand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLook inside and the glaze stops. The interior floor is \u003cstrong\u003ebare terracotta-coloured clay\u003c\/strong\u003e, pierced by \u003cstrong\u003eseveral drainage holes and a set of smaller paired holes\u003c\/strong\u003e alongside them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnderneath, the foot shows raw clay where the glaze was wiped back before firing, a few glaze runs that got past the wipe, and one small pellet of kiln grit fused to the base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe small paired holes are the detail that identifies this as a real bonsai pot rather than a decorative planter.\u003c\/strong\u003e They are \u003cstrong\u003etie-down holes\u003c\/strong\u003e, and they do something drainage holes do not: they take a wire that passes up through the floor, across the rootball and back down, tying the tree physically into the pot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat matters more than it sounds. Bonsai are grown in coarse, free-draining soil that grips very little, and they are moved constantly — turned for light, carried to a bench for pruning, taken to shows. As Bonsai Tonight puts it, there is \u003cem\u003e“little pressure to knock an unsecured bonsai out of the pot”\u003c\/em\u003e, and even small repeated movement \u003cem\u003e“can break fine roots and stress or weaken bonsai”\u003c\/em\u003e. The wire holes exist so the tree cannot rock. A garden-centre planter has drainage and nothing else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe glaze is the second piece of evidence.\u003c\/strong\u003e Bonsai practice has a long-standing convention: unglazed earth-toned pots for conifers, glazed pots for deciduous and flowering trees, on the reasoning that the pot should echo a colour already in the tree — bark, leaf, fruit or flower. A cream glaze is a flowering-tree pot. The oval form belongs to the same tradition; ovals and rectangles suit the great majority of trees, where rounds and squares are reserved for particular characters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe crackle is deliberate, and it is not damage.\u003c\/strong\u003e The Japanese term is \u003cem\u003ekannyū\u003c\/em\u003e (貫入). It is produced by a calculated mismatch between how far the glaze and the clay body shrink as the kiln cools: the glaze, contracting more, splits into a network of fine lines across the whole surface. Potters have used it as a decorative effect for centuries. On a pot that has held soil, the network gradually darkens as moisture and mineral carry into the cracks — \u003cstrong\u003ethe crazing on this pot is clean and untoned\u003c\/strong\u003e, without the brown staining a long-planted container acquires.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe finishing is workshop hand work, not industrial. The glaze was \u003cstrong\u003ewiped back from the foot by hand before firing\u003c\/strong\u003e so the pot would not fuse to the kiln shelf — the wipe line is slightly irregular, a few runs escaped it, and one piece of kiln grit caught on the base and stayed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pot carries \u003cstrong\u003eno maker's stamp, chop, impressed seal or paper label\u003c\/strong\u003e anywhere on the base, the foot or the walls, and is offered \u003cstrong\u003eunattributed\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pot dates through its finishing, not its form. A hand-wiped foot with escaped glaze runs and a fused grit pellet is a workshop kiln shelf. From the 1970s the imported bonsai container is slip-cast, machine-finished, evenly footed and almost always stamped or labelled — none of which describes this. Dated on the finishing and the firing evidence: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1950–1970\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOval bonsai pot — a glazed stoneware container with drainage holes and dedicated tie-down holes for wiring a tree into the pot\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOval body with two incised horizontal lines to the lower wall, outward-flaring collared rim, raised on four small cloud feet\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGlaze\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCream crackle glaze to the exterior and inner rim — \u003cem\u003ekannyū\u003c\/em\u003e, a deliberate contraction crackle, not a fault. Interior floor left unglazed in the usual manner.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGlazed stoneware over a warm terracotta-coloured body\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eFiring evidence\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGlaze wiped back by hand from the foot before firing, with escaped glaze runs to the base and one small fused pellet of kiln grit\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eNone. No stamp, chop, impressed seal or label. Offered unattributed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1950–1970. Dated on the hand-wiped foot, the escaped glaze runs and the fused kiln grit — workshop finishing rather than the slip-cast machine finishing that replaced it. The form is a continuous tradition and carries no date of its own.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eVery good and fully usable. The pot is sound with no chips, no cracks through the body, no repairs and no restoration; it stands level on all four feet, the rim is complete and even, and every drainage and tie-down hole is clear and unobstructed. \u003cstrong\u003eExpect the full crackle network across the glazed surface\u003c\/strong\u003e — that is the intended decoration — clean and untoned, with no brown staining or soil residue. Light kiln-normal irregularity to the foot, a small fused grit pellet to the base, and minor glaze thinning at the rim edge. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a pot that works whether or not a tree ever goes into it, which is the argument for buying a good one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlanted, it is ready to do its job properly. The drainage is generous, the tie-down holes are clear, and the glaze convention points it at exactly the material it flatters: a flowering or deciduous subject — azalea, quince, crabapple, maple, elm — where cream sets off bloom and autumn colour the way an unglazed brown pot cannot. It will take a succulent arrangement, a small fern or a bulb forced for spring just as happily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEmpty, it reads as ceramics. The oval is a quiet, well-proportioned shape, the two incised lines catch a shadow, and cream crackle is one of the very few surfaces that sits comfortably on almost anything — a dark wood console, a painted shelf, a stone hearth, a run of books. Use it for keys and post, for fruit, for a row of candles, or leave it alone as an object.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe crackle is worth looking at closely. It is a whole network of fine lines, and it moves as the light moves across it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care. \u003cstrong\u003eThis is a garden pot with an unglazed interior, so treat water seriously.\u003c\/strong\u003e If you plant it, stand it where it can drain freely and never leave it sitting in a saucer of standing water — and if you bring it indoors, put a tray or felt pads beneath it, because an unglazed base wicks moisture straight into furniture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo not leave it planted outdoors through a hard freeze.\u003c\/strong\u003e A porous body that has taken up water will split when that water expands, and a crazed glaze gives it more ways in. Empty it, dry it and bring it under cover for winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWash it by hand in warm water with a soft brush — no dishwasher, no bleach, no acid descaler and no abrasive pad, all of which get into a crackle and either stain it permanently or dull the gloss. If you want to keep the network clean and pale, line the pot before planting and rinse it out when you repot.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48039809974377,"sku":"VE-0699","price":165.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/DDEE7599-CA92-4069-B31A-3C90D83CBA70.jpg?v=1789118279","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/oval-crackle-glazed-stoneware-bonsai-pot-collared-rim-and-cloud-feet-drainage-and-wire-tie-holes-c-1960-2000","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}