Mortar and Pestle

I bought some rock salt recently,which often needs grinding before use,and our only kitchen mortar usually has pepper in it. Cleaning up for Pesach, I came upon some small grinding sticks I got in Japan,which seemed just the right size,so I made these three mortars,which came out quite nicely [though I haven't tried one out yet]. Quite a few of the shapes I make were inspired by kitchen needs: it really helps in this profession if you do a little cookery [or at the very least enjoy eating].
The firing yesterday was interesting: at 1000 degrees I could see by comparing the colour in the kiln at the upper and lower spy-holes that we were heading for an even firing;getting a good strong reducing flame required closing the flue completely for part of the firing,a rather fearsome practice [the repaired kiln evidently leaks air,I suspect mainly through the roof arch],but the resulting flame was a healthy clear blue/orange,instead of the recent rather sickly [and smokey] yellow flame I have been getting. Michael Cardew z"l points out [in "Pioneer Pottery",which I have been learning assiduously with Sydney for the last year,and which we are about to finish] that black smoke is the enemy of good reduction,and I felt after the firing [it was indeed even] that it might yield better results than the last couple,which it did- reds not as good as they used to be,but at least recognisably red [copper red glazes that don't reduce properly come out a rather unpleasant crazed glassy pale green,not to be confused with the pale green of under-reduced celadons- see last week's post].