New Japanese Style Tea Bowl

[Soshin]

Here is a new Japanese style tea bowl I picked up at the Chicago Area Japanese Collectables and Sword Show (http://www.chicagoswordshow.com/).  It came without a wood box.  It has a minor crack that doesn't prevent the bowl from being used for macha and adds to the organic wabi-sabi aesthetics of the bowl in my opinion.  I don't think it is antique but is vintage as it has been in the same US collection for over the past 40+ years before I purchased in Chicago.   Any ideas on its style? Other polite comments are also welcome.       

[Guest]

Hi David.,

 

I was told a long time ago, that the story of a tea bowl often lies in its foot.

 

Perhaps if you photograph the foot, it may reveal more.

 

[Soshin]

Hello Malcom,

 

Can’t photograph the foot as I haven’t yet located the leg of the tea bowl. Is the foot the base of the tea bowl?

[Robin]

It might be Iga-yaki....maybe Shigaraki. The foot and makers mark are what people look at after a first glance.

I think it's a rather serious crack.

[Guest]

"Can’t photograph the foot as I haven’t yet located the leg of the tea bowl. Is the foot the base of the tea bowl? "

 

Indeed it is  David,  it is known as Kodai in Japanese.  

 

Here's a cheat sheet to start you off with some of the basic parts of a tea bowl as you look at it:

 

(Interior)

Mikomi: The view presented by the inside of the bowl.

 

Kuchi Zukuri: The mouth opening or lip.

 

Chakin Zuri: where the chakin cloth cleans the tea bowl between each guest.

 

Chasen Zuri: Where the Chasen whisk rubs as you whisk the tea.

 

Cha Damari: The tea well. Where the last of the tea will settle.

 

 

(Exterior):

Do: The body.

 

Koshi: The hip.

 

Kodai Waki: The area between the foot and body.

 

Kodai: The foot itself.

 

Kodai Uchi: Interior of the foot.

 

Here's a link to Robert Yellin's excellent data base 

 

http://www.e-yakimono.net/

[Soshin]

Here is a photo of the base (foot) of the tea bowl.  I hope this clear enough and shows all the necessary detail. There is no mark or signature. Looking at the tea bowl in hand again the crack is minor and not serious sorry Robin I disagree furthermore the crack doesn't stop the bowl from being functional.  

[Guest]

Good afternoon David,

 

I don't have sufficient skill to hazard a valid opinion, so, sight unseen in the hand, my take on the bowl is, that the patina of the foot does appear to suggest that the bowl may have a little more age than at first glance.

 

The crack, which Robin mentions, seems to be on both exterior and interior surfaces, and looks old, it could be stabilised for display, using Kintsugi techniques; which is  a matter requiring a professional artisan's opinion.

 

[sabi]

Certainly not Iga or Shigaraki. May be some kind of Oribe inspired ware to my eye.

[Soshin]

I think the application of kintsugi to the crack on the bowl would look very nice. Getting a professional to take a look at the bowl in that regard and narrowing down the style are good ideas.

[Stephen]

We were taught in class to never glaze the foot.

[Guest]

The application of Kintsugi in the cracked area, and would show up as a thin line of gold, as it is a mixture of Urushi and (ideally) Gold powder and would look quite distinctive against the darker glaze....like a sword cut.....

 

I agree with Evan, it does have the look of a copper based glaze, similar to Oribe.

 

Hi Stephen, the traces of what looks like glaze on areas of the base rim of the Kodai  have the look of having happened during firing, and not a deliberate application of glaze.

 

[Brian]

I agree kintsugi would be very effective and appropriate here.

[ROKUJURO]

It is obviously not the coarse clay used by IGA, SHIGARAKI, or MASHIKO, but a fine throwing clay. The ash glaze (not copper) was fired in reduction and came out as a SEIJI (or Celadon) tone. 

May I add that a crack is always an issue as long as it has not been closed. Cracks are either an "intrinsic" problem of the bowl caused by different shrinkage between glaze and body. That can lead to a crackled glaze, but can also be the cause of a bigger accidental crack when the bowl was knocked against something hard. But of course hitting a stoneware bowl hard enough can lead to a bigger crack as well. You never know the story of a bowl!

In any case it can be repaired, but it is not the KINTSUGI decoration alone that is important. Low viscosity URUSHI has to go into the tiny gaps and fix the parts of the ceramic object, preventing them from moving.