These boards were added to increase my knowledge of the Japanese tea ceremony, Wabi-Sabi and tea bowl design. 

Research on contemporary tea bowls 

I took all of these photos at the London design fair in 2019 and they give clear examples of what is possible with contemporary textures. 

To create a bowl that was able to be slip cast from a one-part mould I needed to fully understand the process and the requirements of such a design. 

Texturing process

A hotbox is used to dry out the clay to help create the textures. 

Slip casting demo

Pre-glazing

Pre-Firing

Solidworks texture experimentation

Solidworks Ideation

Foam mock-ups

I used foam to quickly explore more narrow tea bowls but quickly moved back to my final concept. The wider bowl easily accommodates the whisk as opposed to the taller narrower bowl. 

MDF Mock-ups

Section view of bowl shown alongside complete bowl (Below)

This mockup shows a wider bowl with gentler curves. allows even foam to be created with the Whisk. The round shape allows the tea pourer to show all sides of the bowl easily. The rounded shape is also very easy and comfortable to hold and to pass between people. 

Problems with this design: The design feels very heavy and grounded, gentler curves would help. The foot is too complicated rather refer to traditional Japanese tea bowls for inspiration. the textures are too rough, one resembles a meat cleaver. And the textures need to blend into the walls of the bowl more successfully. The angle of the bowl must also change from 90 degrees to 92 degrees for easier release from the mould. 

Turntable animation created in Solidworks Visualize

Final concept model. I have separated the foot in order to more clearly show it. It is now flatter and wider to add stability to the model. 

Mould drawing

Mould analysis 

An undercut analysis was done for my model and slip casting mould. the red illustrates all undercuts. BUT no texture on this model is deeper than 1mm so the slip contracts and shrinks as it dries allowing the bowl to be released. The model features very gentle curves as well as featuring 1-degree draft tapers which further increases moldability.

Final Mock-up

Stop-motion animation showing 360 degrees of mock-up 

I have remade the textures to be more subtle and to be directly influenced by Japanese culture rather than just random shapes. The bowl is far more comfortable to hold and drink from and the wall angle is now 92 degrees to allow for easier release from the mould. 

Detail renders

While the model appears to fail the undercut analysis due to the shrinkage of plaster in the mould it will be able to be released. The model has a 92-degree taper and all textures are <1mm deep which will allow the mould to be removed successfully.