I Accidentally Tried to Invent a Thousand-Year-Old Pottery Technique

If you've ever looked at one of my marbled candle vessels and wondered how I make them, the answer is both incredibly simple...

…and over a thousand years old.

The funny part?

I had absolutely no idea.

One afternoon at the pottery studio, I was playing around with scraps of colored clay. I started folding them together, layering different colors, slicing them apart, stacking them back together, and seeing what happened.

When I threw the clay on the wheel, these beautiful woodgrain-like patterns began to appear.

I was convinced I had stumbled onto something completely original.

Naturally, I marched over to the studio owner to show him my incredible new discovery.

He looked at it for about three seconds.

"Oh," he said.

"You're making Nerikomi."

Instant deflation.

I hadn't invented anything.

Instead, I'd accidentally rediscovered one of the most beautiful ceramic techniques in the world.

Of course, once I got home, I did what any curious person would do.

I disappeared down the rabbit hole.

What Is Nerikomi?

Nerikomi is a historic ceramic technique rooted in Japan, where patterns are created not with glaze or paint, but from the clay itself.

Every line you see runs completely through the vessel.

Nothing is painted on afterward.

Nothing wears away.

The pattern is part of the structure.

To create it, different batches of clay are stained, wedged, layered, compressed, sliced, and rebuilt before they ever touch the pottery wheel.

Only then can the vessel be thrown.

It's a little like making pastry dough.

Or geological strata.

Or tree rings.

Every slice reveals something different.

It's Related to European Agateware

As I kept researching, I learned Nerikomi wasn't the only tradition that embraced layered clay.

In the 1700s, potters in Europe developed what became known as agateware, named after the swirling patterns found in agate stone.

Different cultures.

Different histories.

The same fascination with letting the clay become the artwork.

As someone whose family heritage is mostly Scottish, I love that connection.

Witchish is inspired by both my Scottish roots and the forests and coastline where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Finding a ceramic technique that has echoes in both Eastern and European traditions felt strangely fitting.

Why You Don't See Much Nerikomi Today

Nerikomi doesn't fit neatly into modern manufacturing.

There are no decals.

No molds.

No shortcuts.

Every block of clay is built by hand.

Every layer is different.

Every slice changes the pattern.

Even if I tried to make two identical vessels, I couldn't.

And honestly...

I wouldn't want to.

You Only Get One Chance

Here's the part most people don't realize.

With ordinary clay, if something goes wrong on the wheel, you can usually reclaim it.

You ball it back up.

Let it rest.

Try again.

Nerikomi doesn't work that way.

Every pull stretches the pattern.

Every ounce of pressure changes it forever.

Pull too quickly and the walls become uneven.

Center imperfectly and the design twists.

If the piece collapses...

so does every hour that went into staining clay, layering slabs, compressing blocks, slicing patterns, and rebuilding them.

There's no hiding mistakes under glaze.

The clay tells the truth.

Every Potter Leaves a Fingerprint

I've realized something fascinating.

No two Nerikomi artists make the same patterns.

Not because they're trying to be different.

Because every person's hands move differently.

The thickness of the slabs.

The order of the colors.

How tightly they're compressed.

The pressure while centering.

The rhythm of pulling the walls.

The clay remembers all of it.

Two artists can begin with the exact same colors and end up with completely different vessels.

I love that.

It means every piece quietly carries the signature of the person who made it.

More Than a Technique

The more I worked with Nerikomi, the more it started to feel like a metaphor for life.

We all have layers.

Experiences.

Failures.

Joy.

Heartbreak.

Curiosity.

The things that shape us aren't painted onto the surface.

They're woven into who we become.

That's what makes Nerikomi so beautiful to me.

The pattern isn't decoration.

It's identity.

Why Witchish Uses Nerikomi

Every Witchish vessel is hand-thrown from layered clay.

No molds.

No decals.

No printed pattern.

The design runs all the way through the clay body, so it can never wear away.

When the candle has finished burning, the vessel remains.

Refill it.

Drink tea from it.

Keep crystals inside.

Use it as a planter.

Let it continue its story.

Because beautiful objects shouldn't be disposable.

They should become part of your home.

A Little Witchish

It's funny.

I started by thinking I'd invented something new.

Instead, I found myself connected to a tradition that has been quietly passed from one pair of hands to another for centuries.

I think that's what Witchish is really about.

Not inventing magic.

Rediscovering the kinds of practices that remind us to slow down, make things with care, and find meaning in the ordinary.

Sometimes curiosity doesn't lead you somewhere new.

Sometimes it leads you home.