To my eye the hardest part here is compressing a full raku cycle into kitchen equipment. The maker pulled it off by running a microwave kiln for about 12 to 14 minutes at 850 watts, with the whole firing process landing around 20 to 25 minutes. Having gone in with zero expectations, the maker came away delighted with this first attempt.
The glaze plan is split carefully. The wings carry a raku gold glaze and the face a semi matte copper, and a friend made the glazes while also guiding the firing, which seems a sensible setup to me. Once out of the kiln, the piece went into a cast iron pot filled with wood shavings. The fire was allowed to catch, the pot was covered until the flames died, and the piece finished in a bucket of water. Covering the burning pot creates reduction that pulls oxygen from the glaze, and that reduction is what gives the metallic finish; most of the sheen shows up only after the lid goes on.
The finishing details are what sell it. A rounded yellow rear shell is marked with dark crackle lines, while the front section and two large opposing horns wear an iridescent textured glaze that shifts among blue, bronze, purple and black tones in direct light. Dark grey legs curl beneath the abdomen.
One open item: the copper matte reportedly shows even more iridescence in real life, and the maker has said a shelf will still be needed for display. Worth noting too that the kiln is sold as XL yet is not very big in real life, which in my view makes it a neat fit for a single figurine like this.