Calligraphy on a box

[PietroParis]

Hi All,

 

I've just bought on Catawiki a Hagi-style tea bowl made by one 吉弘達彦 Yoshihiro Tatsuhiko, a seemingly little-known potter who, according to a google search, doubles as karate teacher in Hiroshima:

 

 

The writing on the front of the box is not problematic:

 

梅華皮 kairagi (literally "plum flower skin", this kind of glaze) 

茶盌 chawan

達彦 Tatsuhiko

 

 

However, I am stuck with the writing under the lid:

 

 

I can only make out the full name of the potter in the last (leftmost) column. Could anyone here please help me read the first three columns? Thanks in advance for any help!

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

nice chawan!

[SteveM]

銘　平砂　Mei: Hirasuna 

令和元年    Reiwa 1 (2019)

[PietroParis]

Thanks so much Steve!

 

Google translates 平砂 as "flat sand", I wonder if this has any particular meaning in the context of the tea ceremony.

 

P.S. not that it matters, but the Japanese  seller described the bowl as "Shōwa period (1926-1989)". The bad faith is quite breathtaking...

[SteveM]

I did a very quick search if I could find this mei on other works of his, but I couldn't. I think the two characters 平 and 砂 must have come from a teacher/sensei of his (same tradition in sword-making), and so he uses them as his art name. Or maybe his teacher passed along one of the characters, and Yoshihiro came up with the other one himself based on personal reference or location of the kiln.

Anyway, he seems to be more widely known by his real name, probably because he is still alive and well and active. 

[PietroParis]

I don't think 平砂 is meant as the potter's name, but rather as the name of the bowl. See for example this other box I have:

 

 

Incidentally, I was later told that the arrow with question mark under the lid points to 家元 (iemoto, or head master) followed by the kao of the tea master who picked the name. Indeed, this is something that would not usually be done by the potter himself.

[SteveM]

Could be the name of the item. I don't know much about pottery and the tradition of naming items, but it sounds plausible.

The question mark on the lid says 宗完 (Sōkan) which is the headmaster name handed down in that school (Horiuchi Sōkan). 

The question mark on the side of the box says 金海 (Gimhae, Korea), where that kiln is located.

[PietroParis]

Thanks again! I may have misunderstood what the (Japanese) person who translated the writing in a FB ceramics group had told me, i.e. that the two characters are 家元 (iemoto). Then someone else had indeed identified the iemoto in question as 堀内宗完 Hori(no)uchi Sokan. So either the first person mixed up 家元 and 宗完 (there are indeed several parts in common in both kanji) or he just meant that the characters refer to the name of the iemoto, not that they read iemoto.

[PietroParis]

The bowl has arrived, here are some more pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark S.]

Very nice!

 

The 3 things that make a ‘good’ tea bowl:

1) Can you make a good bowl of tea in it? (Most important)

2) How does it feel in your hands and how does it ‘feel’ when you drink tea from it?  In other words, will your guest enjoy it?

3) How does it look and how does it fit the atmosphere of the tea room for that specific event?

 

Next step is to get a couple pics with some matcha whisked in it!   The bright green froth will look beautiful against the rustic white background.  

[PietroParis]

Thanks Mark! For the time being I can only answer that in hand the bowl feels somewhat more compact (I mean, smaller and heavier) than I expected from the pictures, but that's not a bad thing for me.

The tearoom is in fact my living room, and I am afraid that every time I prepare a matcha bowl a tea master kills himself...

Anyway I'll make some tea over the weekend and try to take a picture. 

[PietroParis]

Here it is, of course my whipping technique leaves much to be desired...

 

 

[Mark S.]

Sometimes textured bowls can be tough on a chasen (bamboo whisk) and can be difficult to properly whisk the tea… but, your’s is frothy, small bubbles, no lumps… what’s not to like?  Thank you for sharing.