02 Technology

Printed in clay, not plastic

Cerapira pieces are made by paste extrusion: real Dehua porcelain clay is pushed through a nozzle and laid down in a continuous coil, layer over layer, following a path generated from a 3D model. Nothing is cast, nothing is glued. What comes off the printer is already the finished form — it then goes through drying, hand trimming, firing and inspection exactly as any other piece of Dehua porcelain would.

Geometry a mould cannot release

Continuous spirals, undercuts, lattices and walls that vary in thickness from top to bottom. Slip casting needs a form that can leave the mould; printing does not.

Precision, repeated

The same file produces the same wall, the same rhythm of lines, the same light pattern — across the first piece and the five-hundredth.

No tooling, no minimum mould cost

A new shape costs a new file, not a new plaster mould. That is what makes short runs, seasonal variants and one-off commissions economically possible.

Still finished by hand

Trimming, firing and inspection remain human work. Clay shrinks, the kiln has its own opinion — no two pieces come out identical, and we do not pretend otherwise.

Process 01 — 06

From file to fired piece

01

Clay preparation

Dehua porcelain clay is mixed to a printable paste and de-aired.
02

Layer-by-layer printing

The form is extruded as one continuous coil following the 3D path.
03

Drying & hand trimming

Slow drying, then edges and seams are trimmed by hand.
04

High-temperature firing

Fired in the Dehua kiln; the body shrinks and vitrifies to translucency.
05

Finishing

Foot and rim are ground and finished by a craftsman.
06

Inspection

Every piece is checked individually before it is packed.