Igor Carino - Unique Handmade & 3-D printed wood-fired pot. *EBPC DIRECT (Sent DIRECT by the seller from Italy).

A wood-fired formal round-shaped bonsai pot, with wide lip design, made by Igor Carino's Gafu-ten award-winning process, with exquisite glaze adding a rugged and aged dimension.

This innovative piece is the culmination of 10 years of research and design and combines traditional techniques and principles with the latest in modern technology. The pot is part handmade and part 3D printed from quality stoneware clay. The base is fully handmade, and 3D printed walls are in a fluted Rinka-shaped design. The lip, also handmade, adds a nice border to the beautiful textured pattern of the walls, and the pot is expertly glazed to stunning effect. A unique and non-repeatable piece.

Once designed and a computer program is built, the pots are 3D printed using traditional clay - high-quality Japanese or French stoneware. The pots are constantly attended to during this long process and then are finished by hand once leather hard, and areas of the pots are smoothed to a polished finish.

The pots are then wood-fired for 11 hours, another process that requires constant attention, in a special high-temperature wood-fired kiln (1350°C), designed and built by ceramic artist and kiln expert Frederick L. Olsen. A mix between traditional Western wood kilns and Japanese kilns.

'the wood firing in my kiln created metallic, iridescent colors, and finishes like the surfaces of cast iron and corten metal.'

The resulting pots are completely unique, incredibly detailed, and multi-fronted.

External measurements: 14.5cm (l) x 5.3cm (h).

Made by Igor Carino (Italy)

* Very few pieces have been sold worldwide.

Read about this fascinating process and incredible artist at Carino's EBPC Member Profile page.