Hi-iro is the reddish-brown appearance that unglazed high-fired ware takes on under the influence of the flame during firing, a natural colouring produced as an iron-bearing body oxidises.
What to look at
It is seen particularly in Bizen, Shigaraki, and Iga wares. Hidasuki — linear fire colour left by straw wrapped around a piece before firing — is prized as the representative appearance of Bizen.
In practice
It appears in describing the colouring of clay — a Bizen with good fire colour, a scarlet keshiki. Because it comes from oxidation rather than glaze, it is a property of the clay and the atmosphere, not of anything applied.
About this article
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