Japan has a long tradition of refined tea drinking, accompanied by ceremony and exquisite tea pottery such as tea pots and chawans (tea bowls). This chawan is a contemporary piece made by ceramic artist, Kouichi Osada who is based in Hiroshima. It is one of the pieces of Japanese ceramics in my collection. I share it here to showcase how modern artisans in Japan are still making these iconic tea bowls, often by hand and using natural glazes much like their forebears did since the 16th century. What is new in the current example is the way the artist has “updated” the look of the classic chawan (mostly black or brownish-black) to more colors. A standout feature of this bowl is what I call a “melted cheese” effect, formed by incorporating white ash made from burned rice straws to raw clay before firing. The melted ash forms a striking contrast to the black splashes and unglazed earth color in the lower portion of the bowl, giving the chawan a painterly look that is suggestive of a natural landscape. With this technique (see details below), Osada-san and other ceramicists like him succeed in keeping a cherished tradition alive, while giving their works a modern artistic “makeover.”
The Making of a Chawan
Further reading: A Brief History of the Japanese Tea Ritual
Japan has a long and distinguished tradition of refined tea drinking embodied by the tea ceremony that emerged in the 16th century. Initially a preserve of rulers and warrior elite, the tea ceremony was popularized in the mid-16th century, led by influential tea masters such as Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591). These pioneer tea masters began to emphasize the use of rustic ceramic tea ports, tea bowls and tea cups as essential elements to the conduct of the tea ceremony. It was also around this time that the famous Japanese concept of ‘wabi sabi’ took root. The wabi sabi philosophy, which extended to all areas of Japanese art, encourages quiet contemplation and admiration in the beauty of unrefined nature or imperfect forms. Thus began the practice of artisans making tea ceramics with unglazed stone wares with irregular shapes, sombre backgrounds (usually black or dark brown) with minimal décor. Such wares, epitomized by the well-loved tea bowls (chawan), were made in different places such, most notably Mino, Shiraraki and Bizen, each known for different clay colors and textures. These early chawans were all hand-made rather than a pottery wheel, and when fired in the kiln, ash would settle on the shoulders of the piece, melt, and drip down the sides, resulting in natural ash glazes with textures that were ultimately unpredictable.
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