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The bonsai pot is the home for our dwarf potted trees, the definite boundaries which restrict the food-storage roots and thus largely
contribute to the small size of our trees. These pots have been described by the late grandmaster
John Y. Naka as a "nice suit of clothes" or a "beautiful
frame for a picture." They enhance the composition of the trees and other elements without overwhelming or distracting
the viewer's eye from the main focus, the bonsai. This page is a resource for the most significant information we have come across in our researches concerning these containers and the much-too-often unsung fabricators of clay and other materials which we necessarily require for each and every one of our bonsai compositions. To start at the beginning, please familiarize yourself with the origins of the pen, the Chinese term which the Japanese pronounce as "bon" in bonsai, a "shallow container planting." Now, please familiarize yourself with the range of some container shapes and sizes used for these plantings through the centuries in China and Japan. By the year 1400 in China, terra cotta containers were first crafted. Many of these dark pots were mostly made from iron sand or rough sand and were used to hold cultivated flowers. Plain in appearance, these pots were artistically succinct and tasteful, and are noted for their bold lines. Seals or inscriptions on the container bottom are rare. Containers exported to Japan during the 17th and 18th centuries would be referred to as Kowatari ("old crossing"). Extremely elegant and later harmonizing well with old dwarfed trees, these were made between 1465 and about 1800. Many came from Yixing in Jiangsu province -- unglazed and usually purplish-brown -- and some others came from around Canton, particularly during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Some porcelain containers were starting to be used for plants at this time in China. By the year 1700, containers now had a finer texture than those made during Ming times, and these featured a tremendous variety of patterns. The practice of carving calligraphy or paintings onto container surfaces dates from this time. Pots exported from China to Japan between 1816 and 1911 (especially in the late 1800s) were called Nakawatari ("middle-crossing") or Chuwatari. Shallow, rectangular or oval-shaped stoneware with carved feet and drainage holes, unglazed pots of this type were used at ancestral shrines and treasured by the Chinese. After the middle of the century, certain Japanese antiquities dealers originally imported these and the instant popular approval for using this type of container for bonsai created a huge demand for incense burners of this type. Consequently, orders came from Japan to the Yixing pottery centers specifically to make bonsai pots. Between 1911 and about 1940, mass-produced containers which were exported from Yixing and made to the specifications of Japanese dealers were called Shinto ("new crossing or arrival") or Shin-watare. These were made for increasing numbers of dwarf tree enthusiasts. Some containers, including primitive style ones, were also made in Formosa (aka Taiwan). Chinese pots exported after WWII were called Shin-Shin-To ("new-new-crossing"). [Hu, Yunhua Chinese Penjing, Miniature Trees and Landscapes (Portland, OR: Timber Press; ©1987 Wan Li Books Co., Ltd., Hong Kong), pp. 167-169; Naka, John Yoshio Bonsai Techniques II (Bonsai Institute of California; 1982), pp. 304-306, 322; Katayama, Tei'ichi The Mini-Bonsai Hobby (Tokyo: Japan Publications, Inc.; 1974), pp. 19-20; Chinnery, John Treasures of China, The Glories of the Kingdom of the Dragon (London: Duncan Baird Publishers Ltd.; 2008), pg. 186] Here you can read an article about Choosing the Right Pot for your Bonsai from Bonsai4Me.com, and a Word.doc by Fred Aufschläger about "Bonsai Containers as Ceramic Art." David DeGroot's out-of-print Basic Bonsai Design (American Bonsai Society, 1995) has several nice chapters on pots, pot design and matching trees to pots (per Jim Lewis in personal e-mail to RJB 4 May 2010). All containers used for bonsai and related arts, can be sorted into these seven categories: 1) THE MAJORITY: Ceramic ware from clay -- terra cotta (not very sturdy), earthenware, stoneware, porcelain; crafted by being thrown, slab, slump, or hump; sometimes with slip, inlay or glaze; all are kiln-fired; 2) Rock -- tufa, pumice, slate, coral (*), fossil (*), marble; often drilled, cut or polished; rough slab; also, epoxied-together stone pieces; 3) Wood/bamboo -- ranging from hollowed-out burl, stump or log to assembled lumber pieces or driftwood; with or without lacquer, varnish or other preservative; 4) Metal -- polished steel, iron, silver or silverplate, pewter, aluminum, brass, bronze; copper should be coated; 5) Concrete -- cement or other aggregate; with or without pigments or strengthening metal framework; 6) Plastic -- ranging from blown or formed to mica composite; and 7) Miscellaneous -- acrylic, fiberglass, glass, bone, shell, leather/hide, basketry, waxed or oiled paperboard, etc. |
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Here are some videos of how some pots are made in Japan: Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai, Series I:
Episode 12,
Episode 13,
Episode 14, and
Episode 15,
A number of Japanese books on the subject are described starting here: http://www.bonsaipots.net/index.php?page=book-1. A List of Bonsai Potters and Ceramists can be found here. A number of contemporary Western artists are listed in a recent comprehensive book about pots and potters. Daan Giphart and Lévon Arzooyan's Bonsai potters (2006; ASIN: B000HRCUBS) included the following: Bryan Albright, UK; Derek Aspinall; Jack Bacus; Ian Baillie, UK; Jim Barrett, California, USA; Marc Bauwens; Dan and Cecilia Barton, UK; Richard Boggs, North Carolina, USA; Patrice Bongrand, France; Dale Cochoy, Ohio, USA; Gordon Duffett; Gilbert van der Elst; Petra Engelke; Jim Gremel, California, USA; Filip Haesen; Michael Hagedorn; Petra Hahn, Rückersdorf, Germany; Alan Harriman, Nr Doncaster, UK; Victor and Glyn Harris; Horst Heinzlreiter, Sierning, Austria; Wendy Heller, USA; Jürgen Hilken; Franz Hilliger; Roger Hnatiuk, Australia; Stan and Ilse Holroyd; Renske Jaasma; David Jones, UK; Lenie Jongerhuis; Andreas van Kerckhove, Belgium; Milan Klika and Vlada Kurátková; Ingrid Kralovec; Peter Krebs, Germany; Ron Lang, Maryland, USA; René Lecocq, Belgium; Nick Lenz, Massachusetts, USA; Dave Lowman, Iowa, USA; Elsebeth Ludvigsen, Denmark; Jacques Marty, France; Sandi McFarland, USA; Hans Meeuwsen; Andy Pearson, UK; Donnas Hermena Peterson; John Pitt, Derbyshire, UK; Morea Pubben; Sara Rayner, Minnesota, USA; Mario Remeggio, Treviso, Italy; Tony Remington, UK; Ron de Roo; Harry Smeets; Roger Snipes; Piotr Świecki; Diane Thoman, Colorado, USA; Kevin Thompson, Maine, USA; Dirk Vanspeybroeck; Dolf Verjans; William Vlaanderen; Emil Wanningen, Netherlands; and Silvia Weber, Germany. Galleries of some of the other potters are here: Rob Addonizio, Florida, USA; Erwin Grzesinski, Germany; Kitoi, California, USA; Klaudia and Martin, Germany; Mario Stefano, Croatia. Some of the Worldwide Bonsai Pot Signatures can be found here. |
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Some sources for pots (on-line, mail order, or by appointment) include: Alibaba.com (large quantity wholesale only), China; Bonsai By the Monastery, Georgia, USA; Bonsai Marketplace, Oregon, USA; Bonsai Northwest, Washington, USA; BonsaiPot.com, Washington, USA; Bonsai Shop Australia, Australia; Bonsai Shop Koeln, Cologne, Germany; Bonsai UK, Surrey, UK; Bonsai-Wholesale.com, Florida, USA; Brussels Bonsai Nursery, Mississippi, USA; Dallas Bonsai Garden, Texas, USA; Green Dragon Bonsai, Denbighshire, UK; Herons Bonsai (pick-up only), Surrey, UK; Yaeko and Bruce K. Hisayasu (by appointment), California, USA; Kaizen Bonsai, UK; Ken's World of Bonsai (large pots, pick-up only), Ohio, USA; KoJu-En, Kyoto, Japan; Ma-Kè Bonsai, London, UK; Miami Tropical Bonsai, Florida, USA; Mudlark Pottery, Newcastle, Australia; New England Bonsai Gardens, Massachusetts, USA; Palmatum, Poland; Pecenppot Bonsai & Garden Centering, Shanghai, China; Pots for Bonsai.com, Jiangsu, China; Shanghai Pecenppot International Co. Ltd, Jiangsu, China; Sz-wholesale.com, Guangdong, China; Tokoname Bonsai Pots, Japan; Zhejiang Yunfeng Gardens Co., Ltd. (including antique pots), Zhejiang, China. Some sources for pot-making materials include: Clay Planet, California, USA; Continental Clay, Minnesota, USA; Georgies Ceramic and Clay, Oregon, USA; Mile Hi Ceramics, Colorado, USA; New Mexico Clay, New Mexico, USA; Sheffield Pottery, Massachusetts, USA. "Bonsai inSites, Collaborations between Tree and Container," an exhibition of pots which "break the conventional rules," is linked here, while some other unique seasonal displays can be seen here. A few more examples are shown here. See also the potter discussion sections of the various forums, such as Internet Bonsai Club, Knowledge of Bonsai, and Australian Bonsai. Here we have a tribute to some potters of the past, including Max Braverman (Sept. 28 entry), Don Gould (Mar. 15 entry), and Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kōzan (May 20 entry). A training pot is a temporary vessel which holds a tree that has just been procured and is not ready for any type of formal show. This type of container might be larger than aesthetically suggested in order to allow the plant a larger area in which to grow an established rootball, or the pot may simply be one that is the right size for the specimen while one awaits receipt of the right size/shape/color good-quality container. A few suggestions for non-show training pots can be found here. Finally, there are a few questions we still have about the history of pots. |
| This page is a work in progress. Anyone who knows of additional information regarding pots and potters is asked to please contact rjb@phoenixbonsai.com. Contributor acknowledgment will be posted. Please include as many details as possible. Thank you! |