One-Handed Gaiwan

My next ceramic piece was inspired while having some tea and reading a book.  I chose a porcelain gaiwan for my drinking vessel, however gaiwans are meant to be used with two hands and I wanted one free hand for reading.  I tried to use the gaiwan with just one hand, but it was less than ideal as it wasn't really made to be used that way.  So I decided to go to the studio and make one that was.

There were two main design features that I had to include on my gaiwan to make it one-hand friendly.  The first was to create an elevated foot with a finger gap allowing for the bowl to be scooped up.  The second was a thumb catch at the top.  Normally, you would use two fingers to hold and move the lid around, but with the one-handed gaiwan the thumb would have to do all the work.

This was the most challenging feature to design and make for a few reasons.  Firstly, clay shrinks when drying and also in the kiln, so determining the right size would be near impossible.  Secondly, everybody has different sized thumbs and I wanted to make it so that it wouldn't have to to be unique to the person it was designed for, even though I was designing it for myself.  Furthermore, while being large enough to fit any thumb, it also had to be snug enough that the thumb could control the lid without much difficulty. And finally, the lid would conduct heat to the thumb if it is pressed directly against the clay, which wouldn't be comfortable when the tea is hot.

My solution to these problems was to create a wedge-shaped thumb catch that began wide and got more narrow the further in the thumb went.  I also used a rougher glaze inside the the thumb catch than the rest of the gaiwan in order to improve friction against the thumb.  As for the heat, I merely elevated the thumb catch on little legs, providing a cushion of air between the hot lid and thumb.  The results?

Works for me.  Now my other hand is free to hold a book, drive a car, or accept a challenger in a fencing match.  And if should I lose my other arm in the duel, I can still drink tea from a gaiwan.