Why does a teacup with furnace mutations and deformations become a fetish in the eyes of tea experts and ceramists? Why do we perceive beauty in a defect? Is it because of the defect’s uniqueness or unduplicated quality? Does the defect perhaps represent a natural transmutation combined with human handicraft? Accidental results create an ideal aesthetic that could only be created and achieved in a wood-fired kiln, with marvellous and unexpected changes that have charmed ceramists throughout history.