Welcome
Student of the 5 Kilns Pottery
If you are interested in any piece, please send me a letter in the 'contact us' page or email studentof5kilns@gmail.com
About Student of the 5 Kilns Pottery
The story of the 5 Kilns
The 5 great kilns of the Song Dynasty in China (960-1279 AD) were sites in various regions in China that were famous for their production of pottery as both functional ware and art. These kilns produced fine porcelain glazed in celadons that are as translucent and green as jade or "the color of the sky after rain". Translucent white ceramics (bright white) were produced as well as those of blue, violet and red. These kilns served the Imperial palace.
[Photo: Ming Dynasty Tombs, Nanjing, China]
The Origin Story
Student of the 5 Kilns was started by Jia Li, an American potter. The work here is influenced by the myths and legends of ancient China told to her by her father during her childhood in Taiwan. She is also inspired by the rugged natural sceneries of the California coast, the Japanese Meiji period mixed metal vases that she collects, Native American pottery of the Southwest and the Asian pottery she saw in museums in the U.S. and abroad including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, Shaanxi History Museum in Xian China, the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, and last but definitely not the least, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
[Photo: The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, China]
My Pottery
Every piece of pottery is hand-thrown on a potter's wheel or hand built with slabs of clay. Celadon pieces are made with pure white porcelain to produce the translucent blue-green colors that are classic for Chinese celadons. Carved designs are made by hand using Japanese woodblock tools. Concept Pieces (pieces that are experimental) and table wares are made with a variety of clays including porcelain, stoneware, brown clay and others.
Because every piece is made entirely by hand, each piece is unique and has its own personality. This is very different from factory produced pottery where one piece looks exactly as thousands of others because they are all derived from the same mold. Mass produced ceramics can be hand-finished or hand decorated but these pots are generally not made one at a time on a potter's wheel. There are no large warehouses full of inventory. All the pieces that are available are on this website. Every piece from the Student of the 5 Kilns Pottery is one-of-a-kind. Once a piece is gone, there will not be another one exactly like it.