"Love rare, very red, cherry red! So sweet a bowl." by Strommen
| Shibui Chawan |
| Beautiful Wabi-Sabi Chawan |
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"Love rare, very red, cherry red! So sweet a bowl." by Strommen
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The clay (formulated in Japan) is Bizen style, some would say darker than shigaraki. The glaze or slip, is shino style named after a particular glaze originating in Japan. The samurai were very interested in the tea ceremony, this was a place of equality. |
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| Beautiful "Raku" Chawan "It's look and warmth are expressive of the zen it represents." |
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RAKU WARE. A light weight ceramic ware developed in Kyoto in
the Momoyama period and particularly prized in the tea ceremony chanoyu, especially for teabowls chawan. Raku
ware is not wheel turned but molded by hand, often using a spatula. Thus each
piece is popularly thought to express the individual character of its maker. Primarily
using soft clays from Kyoto, the vessel is generally covered with a low-fire lead
glaze of red or black, although white is sometimes used. The vessel is positioned
in a saggar (ceramic box) in a small, single-chamber cylindrical updraft kiln,
then briefly fired at about 1000F. Once the glaze forms, the bowl is removed
to cool quickly in the air to create a porous ware that holds heat and insulates
against hot tea. Early raku bowls are usually of the hanzutsu
(half-cylinder) shape with rounded lower body and straight sides. Japanese raku is considered to be safe to drink from when:
1) You use the bowl for matcha, which is (a) non-acidic and (b) typically drunk immediately after being whisked.
2) You soak the raku bowl in water for a few minutes first (my tea sensei typically allows at least 15 minutes of total immersion!). This way, the crackling and fine interstices of the bowl are completely filled with water, and when you do make the matcha, it won't be soaking into the bowl. (This approach also prevents unsightly staining of the bowl's interior surface.)
Wonderful !
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Popular belief holds that during the late 1570s Sen Rikyuu (1522-91) was so
impressed by the roof tiles of the artisan Choujirou (1516-92) that he asked
Choujirou to create teabowls emphasizing a quiet, simple and unassuming aesthetic.
The patronage of Rikyuu allowed Choujirou to establish a workshop. More than one
person likely worked on a specific teabowl although the production process of
Choujirou, his workshop, and followers lends a sculptured aesthetic to their teabowls.
Rikyuu is associated with black raku bowls kuroraku as they best
express his aestheic of wabicha. Red raku bowls, akaraku
are more common from the early 17c. The second generation raku potter
Joukei continued Choujirou's work, but the line was solidified by the third
generation master Dounyuu (1599-1656; also called Nonkou), patronized
by Sen Soutan (1578-1658) and Honnami Kouetsu (1558-1637). He originated
a highly viscous glaze makugusuri for which later raku tea bowls
are famous. The raku making family trace fourteen generations in direct
succession from Choujirou at the hongama (main kiln), but there are
many other potters trained in the raku tradition.
I've been in contact with Pagasari and here is what he says (using translator):
“To answer your questions, I never use ‘plom’ ( lead) in glazes that I make myself. I use my bowls every day and I am very careful of my health. You can use all kinds of liquids except the vinegar which destroys the structure of the glaze. For everything else there is no problem. In the raku sometimes the earth is sometimes seeming to leave the apparent carbone but it's something that I do not use in my pieces. I realize thermal shock without plunging the room but the smoke just in water or snow, then I fill the cracks oxides for cracking black. I sometimes put to fire 10 to remove the earth and between each layer of color. Then you should know that glazes that are fired at 1000 degrees are much more fragile than cooking at high temperatures because the earth is like a sponge that is not closed. This is part of the charm of Rakus changing with time. Often it takes several months of use so that the true character of the piece appear, the whole magic of this type of object.
To answer your further questions, I do not use any of these products (barium, barium carbonate, or any kind of manganese) in my glaze. For the components of my glazes, using a lead-free frit, with the porcelain powder and silica, kaolin, oxides; only iron oxide red & black, cobalt, copper and a little tin. The colors are obtained with engobes (engobes do not contain lead and are safe for food and beverage containers when properly fired) made from natural pigments, I do not use artificial coloring. My recipes are very simple, but sometimes several components for some glazes.”
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| Beautiful "natural art" Chawan "It's natural look and warmth are expressive of the very earth from which it comes." |
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Wonderful Bizen ware tea bowl for all seasons.
The Bizen ware is one of the oldest pottery kinds in Japan with a history going back to the Heian period (794-1185). Bizen is named after the village of Imbe in Okayama prefecture, formerly known as Bizen province.Bizen ware is made without using glaze at more than 1000c. Bizen ware is a type of Japanese pottery most identifiable by its ironlike hardness, reddish brown color, absense of glaze, and markings resulting from wood-burning kiln firing.
Bizen ware is called "The art of earth and fire".
by Shozan |
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| from JAANUS (Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System) CHAWAN
1 Generic term for ceramic wares called toujiki from the 9c-16c. Initially used for tea drinking and considerably later for rice. 2) Ceramic bowl used for drinking tea at a tea ceremony. Japanese chawan are most frequently used but those imported from China and Korea are also favored. The tea bowls imported from China are called karamono (referring to the T'ang dynasty) (618-907). Korean bowls are called kourai chawan and Japanese tea bowls are called kuniyaki meaning domestically fired. The type of chawan used depends on whether the ceremony is formal, shin, semi-formal, gyou, or informal, sou. One of the most formal chawan used since ancient times, is a tenmoku bowl tenmoku jawan which has a unique shape: a wide top, and a special oil-spot glaze of Chinese lineage. Today, it is used only when accompanied by a large portable shelf, daisu, and a wooden saucer called tenmokudai. In Japan, however, chawan of plainer design and irregular shape are appreciated more than those with such perfect forms, especially at a simple, quiet tea ceremony. Thus, many domestic tea bowls came into use in the late 16c. Their type and design are extremely diverse, and made even more so by the preferences of tea masters. In general, a bowl shaped for easy drinking is most appreciated. The average size is 15cm in diameter at the rim and about 8cm high. In the summer, a shorter bowl is favored, while in winter, a barrel-shaped bowl about 10cm in diameter at the rim and 9cm high is often preferred. Aside from the tenmoku type introduced in the Muromachi period (1392/3-1568), and one of Korean lineage which was a deep bowl called idojawan, the most popular bowl was a domestic type called rakuyaki. It appears to have been introduced by Sen Rikyu (1502-1591). Generally, tea bowls are appreciated for the shape of the rim, kuchi-zukuri, the inside of the bowl, mikomi, the body of the bowl, dou, and the foot, koudai. By the mid-18c, a middle grade of green tea called sencha gained in popularity and smaller sized tea bowls came into use. |
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