Earth and Fire Raku Pottery

Earth and Fire Raku Pottery Rika Franken Produces African themed Raku pottery after the ancient Japanese technique of cracking glaze, locally produced in Gaborone Botswana.

Raku is an ancient Japanese firing-technique, which Terra Cotta pottery in Botswana has Africanised in style. The firing technique involves manual removal of the red-hot pottery from the kiln at specific temperatures and submerging it in different organic materials, like leafs, dung or sawdust. This temperature shock produces fine cracks in the surface-glaze and the smouldering organic smoke penet

rates deep into these cracks, producing most attractive, ancient looking irregular crackle effects. The shade of grey-black on the unglazed areas depends on the kind of material used, its temperature, colouring, moisture and the general weather when firing. Raku is a risky and uncomfortable way of firing, with high breakages, unexpected outcomes and health-risks for the artists due to the acrid fumes. The charm and fascination of this technique lies however in these surprise-effects, which gives the pottery its unique look. Our designs are mostly inspired by African life and nature with all its shapes and textures and are never exactly repeated twice. Firing large, narrow-necked, thin or flat pieces is very difficult due to the stress on the material during the severe temperature shock. Cracks that have occasionally penetrated through the actual clay body can be fixed by the medieval practice of allowing milk to sour in it (repeatedly if necessary) and then cleaning it before usage. This closes pores and fine cracks rendering the vessel waterproof. Terra Cotta pottery uses only lead free and food approved glazes (most are imported from Germany), and our pots can withstand domestic oven temperatures. Unglazed, smoked outer surfaces have been polished with clear wax. This can be repeated from time to time - if you wish- to keep up the smooth and lustrous appearance.

19/04/2026

Our pottery displayed in India

18/04/2026

Moving anywhere in Botswana? 🇧🇼
We’ve got you covered from start to finish.

Reliable, professional, and tailored to your needs — wherever life takes you, we’ll get you there.

📞 Contact us today for your next move!
Phone: 3181100
Email: sales@mrmove.co.bw / reception@mrmove.co.bw

On our Open day on the 25th, we also offer you fresh organic vegetables, snacks and drinks at Kingfisher farm close by. ...
17/04/2026

On our Open day on the 25th, we also offer you fresh organic vegetables, snacks and drinks at Kingfisher farm close by. Come and enjoy a special outing!

Art and beauty as humanity’s savior
16/04/2026

Art and beauty as humanity’s savior

Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave the most controversial speech *against* Western Civilization at Harvard in 1978.

As a survivor of the Russian Gulags, they expected him to praise the West. Instead, he made a jarring accusation:

The West is a dying civilization. If it doesn't change its ways, it is doomed to collapse.

In fact, he said this has been the case for 500 years, when the West made a crucial mistake:

"How did the West decline from its triumphal march to its present debility?
..the mistake must be at the root, at the very foundation of thought in modern times. I refer to the prevailing Western view of the world which was born in the Renaissance…

I refer to humanism — the proclaimed autonomy of man from any higher force above him."

Solzhenitsyn said humanism made man autonomous from God, Truth, and objective morality.

If all morality is subjective, then man has nothing to live nor die for. Naturally, he loses his courage, embraces materialism, and grows effeminate to modern evils.

So, what is the solution?

A return to belief in a transcendental morality under God:

"If, as claimed by humanism, man were born only to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to death, his task on earth evidently must be more spiritual…

The fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one’s life journey may become above all an experience of moral growth: to leave life a better human being than one started it."

All cultures live, or die, based on their respect of the True, Good, and Beautiful.

To save the West, Solzhenitsyn says start with beautifying your soul, for that is both how you live well, and begin to make civilization itself beautiful again.

Source: Athenaeum Book Club

15/04/2026

Welcome to my pottery studio in beautiful Notwane, 15km‘s outside Gaborone City

How to find us on the Open Notwane day :
15/04/2026

How to find us on the Open Notwane day :

Come an join our Notwane Open day! Make your own pot and keep it —-if you like! Enjoy a picnic ( fresh Samoosa‘s availa...
15/04/2026

Come an join our Notwane Open day! Make your own pot and keep it —-if you like!
Enjoy a picnic ( fresh Samoosa‘s available) browse for unique pottery goodies and go home with a basket of healthy organic farm produce from Julia! See you there!

An order of Raku tiles— not easy to do as they are flat and thus tend to crack in the shock treatment.
15/04/2026

An order of Raku tiles— not easy to do as they are flat and thus tend to crack in the shock treatment.

04/04/2026
Our pottery did not find any customers at all on this SPCA Easter market, so we have decided to stop our monthly stalls ...
04/04/2026

Our pottery did not find any customers at all on this SPCA Easter market, so we have decided to stop our monthly stalls here altogether, as it has not been worth it for months already. Fuel and expenses no longer cover our efforts. Very sad

Raku is everywhere!! What do you think is this???
04/04/2026

Raku is everywhere!! What do you think is this???

08/11/2025

Always...

Address

Gaborone

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday 09:00 - 17:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 17:00

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Raku is an ancient Japanese firing-technique, which Terra Cotta pottery in Botswana has Africanised in style. The firing technique involves manual removal of the red-hot pottery from the kiln at specific temperatures and submerging it in different organic materials, like leafs, dung or sawdust. This temperature shock produces fine cracks in the surface-glaze and the smouldering organic smoke penetrates deep into these cracks, producing most attractive, ancient looking irregular crackle effects. The shade of grey-black on the unglazed areas depends on the kind of material used, its temperature, colouring, moisture and the general weather when firing. Raku is a risky and uncomfortable way of firing, with high breakages, unexpected outcomes and health-risks for the artists due to the acrid fumes. The charm and fascination of this technique lies however in these surprise-effects, which gives the pottery its unique look. Our designs are mostly inspired by African life and nature with all its shapes and textures and are never exactly repeated twice. Firing large, narrow-necked, thin or flat pieces is very difficult due to the stress on the material during the severe temperature shock. Cracks that have occasionally penetrated through the actual clay body can be fixed by the medieval practice of allowing milk to sour in it (repeatedly if necessary) and then cleaning it before usage. This closes pores and fine cracks rendering the vessel waterproof. Terra Cotta pottery uses only lead free and food approved glazes (most are imported from Germany), and our pots can withstand domestic oven temperatures. Unglazed, smoked outer surfaces have been polished with clear wax. This can be repeated from time to time - if you wish- to keep up the smooth and lustrous appearance.