Anagama: Building Wood-fire Kilns

Building Anagama

Shigaraki, Bizen, Echizen and Tanba . . . . . . . . . . . . they are all my favourite places I would like to go back again.

My first anagama 'Moby Dick'

    I have visited various potteries and observed many different firings in Japan. I once came across a rather strange firing. The primitive looking kiln was called 'anagama'. 'Anagama' is a Japanese word used to designate a cave kiln, a type of kiln that has its origins in ancient times. I was captivated by the simple wood-firing and the image has remained in my heart. After living in London for a while, I found I was missing the flames, smoke and smell of burning wood so much that I decided to build my 'anagama' for myself.
    My kiln design is based on various mediæval kilns in Japan, and when I met Furutani Michio (1946 - 2000) in Shigaraki, an outstanding potter and a master kiln-builder, he kindly passed on to me his secret techniques of 'anagama' building.
    My first kiln "Moby Dick" was built in Aldbury, Tring, Hertfordshire in 1995.
    I have designed and built many wood-fired kilns since my first "Moby Dick", including 8 'anagama' and 11 'raku' kilns.
    Wood-firing can be done with a simple 'anagama' but it is very temperamental. And success only comes after many long days of tenacious work coupled with a good understanding of nature. My life project is to build 'anagama' with mediæval features because I admire the wisdom of ancient potters.

'MOBY DICK' My First Anagama Aldbury (1995)

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1: The foundation bricks 2: A split-bamboo Former 3: Tying thin planks ... 4: ... without using iron nails
5: It looks like a capsized boat 6: Bricklaying 7: Bamboo basket making 8: A curvy brick wall
9: The Last keystone 10: The Chimney base 11: A brick whale 12: The whale's back 13: My Victorian chimney
14: The insulation make-up 15: The kiln name was taken from Harman Melville's novel 'Moby Dick' 16: My Moby is packed with pots and ... 17: ... Rice, salt and wine are offered to the kiln God
18: The hungry kiln is ready to be fired

It's measured 30 ft long and 10 ft at its widest. I fired it usually for 8 - 10 days. It has no fire-box, no ash-pit, no proper bag-wall, no dampers, no side-stoking holes and not even spy-holes to enjoy peeking.

'Baby Moby' Mini Anagama Chalfont (2001)

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The mini 'anagama' was built for the Wood Festival at Chiltern Open Air Museum. Only second-hand house bricks were available and it was built in 18 hours without using a conventional former. The mini 'anagama' was then fired for three days throughout the show.

'Orca' Thai Kiln Dinton (Spring, 2006)

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1: A kiln with a view 2: The willow former 3: The kiln is complete and ... 4: ... waiting to be fired 5: The pile of split wood 6: A firing at night

The Kiln design was based on old cross-draft kilns from Sawankhalok & Sukhothai, Thailand.

'Moby Junior' Medium Size Anagama Cheddington (Summer, 2006)

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1: Digging the kiln floor 2: A willow former 3: Kiln visitors 4: Bricklaying 5: Another night of firing

This 'anagama' was built in a beautiful private garden in summer. Pots were made and fired for my solo exhibition which was held at the 'Long Room Gallery' (Tring) in Autumn 2006.

'MOBY' My Latest Anagama Berkhamsted (2007)

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1: foundation & hazel former 2: secondhand bricks 3: bird's eye view 4: front
5: white whale 6: close-up
7: kiln shed 8: in the wood 9: almost complete 10: half-buried anagama

My latest anagama 'Moby' has more mediæval features. It has no fire-box, no ash-pit, no bag-wall, no dampers and no side-stoking holes as usual. Moreover the kiln is half-buried in the valley. I stopped using pyrometers and cones for my firings a few years ago.
I work slowly with surrounding nature, just like an ancient potter.

Raku Kilns Aldbury & Dinton

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1: A Raku-gama in the woods 2: The kiln door 3: A Raku-gama on the hill

An instant 'raku' kiln can be built very quickly and should work fine. I once built one in half an hour and fired it straight away. Yet, I prefer designing wood-fired 'raku' that can be fired slowly and many times. Maybe it's because I enjoy modifying and improving them after each firing.