Love That Kimchi.com
A Site dedicated to Kimchi and Korean cuisine
Korean Tea and the tea ceremony - Chanoyu
Onggi Pottery (Kimchi Pots)
Watch Master Adam Field at work. After a thousand of these, you too can make the Onggi with such ease. Good luck - you'll need it.
From Adam Field's website:
"For most of 2008 I had the honor of studying traditional pottery making techniques at Ohbuja Onggi in Ipo-ri, Gyeong-Gi Do, a 7th generation Onggi studio operated by the Kim family and lead by Kim Il-Maan, a Korean National Cultural Treasure."
The Kim family are among the last Onggi potters to create their wares with very little help from modern machinery, During my 10 month apprenticeship I learned all steps of the tradition, from processing raw clay by hand to final delivery of wares to collectors." Visit Adam Field and his work at Adam Field Pottery
Used for storing and fermenting food for hundreds of years, the Onggi pots are still commonly found throughout Korea. I remember seeing them among street vendors, apartment patios, as decorative pieces, and just about anywhere I went reminding me of my favorite food - Kimchi!
From Korea's Int'l English Channel, a clip on a seventh generation family of Onggi makers in Yeoju County, Gyeonggi Province.
From selection of earth, preparation of clay, and crafting on the potter's wheel, the Onggi (Kimchi Pots) come alive.
Onggi by
Adam Field
Pictured here is one of Adam's latest efforts - a striking Onggi!
Adam recently sent me photos of his Onggi creation above and wrote:
"Fired last weekend in a wood kiln for 2 1/2 days, the color variation on the surface is a result of the melted minerals in the wood ash mixing with the clay surface to create a natural wood ash glaze while recording the path of the flame through the kiln."
This piece and similar are available for sale! Adam is a rare find in artistry who studied under the Kim family in a 7th generation studio lead by Kim Il-Maan Kim Il-Maan, a Korean National Cultural Treasure. Adam is busy touring and lecturing on these ancient techniques but finds time to correspond with fellow enthusiasts, potters, and collectors. A real pleasure to know, this fellow is as unique a breath of fresh air as his Onggi creations. Adam will have another run of Onggi Kimchi pots springing up this coming April so take a number and get ready for more to come!
Contact Adam or view some of his other works to include Onggi, Porcelain, and Woodfired treasures at his site AdamFieldPottery.com
Adam at work on a larger Onggi piece
Kim Young-Ho
6th generation Onggi Potter
From Adam Field's Youtube collection:
"Kim Young-Ho, 6th Generation Onggi potter making a large traditional Korean Storage jar using coil, paddle/mallet method.
He is an amazing potter, a few things to keep in mind while watching: his wheel is a kick wheel and has very little weight to it, so he is constantly kicking, even while shaping the pot, also, this video is almost in real time with very little left out (a.k.a. he is very quick at making such a large pot)" AdamFieldPottery.com
On July 13, 2011, Adam Field e-mailed me an image I'd never seen before. This was a beautiful Western-Asian fusion image of Colorado magic and an original Adam Field Onggi Kimchi Pot!
This is a very unique one of a kind image. Enjoy.
Hi Randy,
"I took this picture up on one of my favorite jeep trails, Ophir pass, between Silverton and Telluride, CO. I couldn't think of a better way to show these two things I am so passionate about; the beautiful Colorado landscape and traditional Korean pottery.
This Onggi jar is representative of the Kimchi fermenting jars I am now making, very traditional. After returning to Colorado from my 10-month Korean Onophggi-making apprenticeship in 2008 I began experimenting with size, shape, glaze and firing technique of my jars.
I have now come full circle and have returned to the traditional shape, decoration and glaze passed along to me by Master Onggi Potter Kim Il-Mahn.
This ancient design has stood the test of time and is the best jar available for making authentic Korean kimchi! " - Adam
View Adams work or contact him at his webiste:
Adam Field's Onggi in Berlin
Adams work welcomed in Berlin! At the Dr. Rhee Food Lab, Adam Field was the guest artist contributor of miniature onggi. Dr. Rhee’s Kimtschi Shop, posing as an mercantile venture, seeks to investigate cultural consumption, explore how authentic culture is evaluated, and question the function of a
national treasure, all through food, bartering, and audience assessment.
Dr. Rhee’s Kimtschi Shop seeks to dismantle outdated and essentialist notions of a fixed cultural identity - while celebrating cultural tolerance and engaging conversations of multiculturalism in Berlin.
Adam Field Onggi Pottery and table top Onggi fermenting vessels!
It's been over 20 years since I ran my hands along the surface of Onggi pots in Korea. I had learned it was the earthenware that housed my obsessive appreciation for Kimchi. I wouldn't forget the texture and feel of those beautiful pots. A perfect time-tested vessel that would ferment Kimchi and other foods to perfection. In the past, pots were assigned to specific content and aging processes. Four diet staples traditionally included soy sauce, soybean paste, red pepper paste, and kimchi.
I recall these pots to have a beautiful glazed appearance with a partial glassy texture. Recently I received a gift of perfection from Adam Field artist in residence at the Archie Bray Foundatio. This is the Onggi work I encountered at Korean markets! The egg shaped ceramic food storage pot is exactly the same beautiful masterpiece I left behind in Korea. This is the same Onggi work I had pepper paste and ready to eat Kimchi pulled from at Korean food markets. Just amazing how raw clay, in the right hands, produces such a beautiful vessel used to ferment food of the Gods! My life source food. Where does one acquire this masterpiece? Well, I know of no other artist stateside who's done what Adam Field of Colorado has done:
In 2008, Adam travelled to South Korea and submerged himself in traditional pottery making techniques at Ohbuja Onggi in Ipo-ri, Gyeong-Gi Do, a 7th generation Onggi studio operated by the Kim family and lead by Kim Il-Maan, a Korean National Cultural Treasure. Â The Kim family are among the last Onggi potters to create their wares with very little help from modern machinery. Go ahead, feast your eyes - Adam made this one for me! Thank you Adam! This is one of those rare once in a lifetime gifts. Who would of known so many years after my journey in Korea that I would be granted a hand formed gift such as this. Thank You.
Whether you collect the pieces for artistic eye candy or use them in traditional food storage and fermentation, visit Adam's site for more rare photos and information on traditional Korean Onggi vessels. It's a family tradition, of sorts, dating back to 4000 BC.
Visit Adam Field Pottery and commission your piece. Just downright awesome and exciting man. Couldn't be happier with this work of art.
In April 2013, Adam Field moved to Montana and is now an artist in residence at the Archie Bray Foundatio. Adam said it's an amazing place to work in clay. Below are images of his most recent work.
You can contact Adam Field at his webiste Adam Field Pottery.
