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From the Earth to the Hand: A Celebration of Japanese Tea Ceramics

Japanese ceramics possess a refinement that makes even functional objects like tea cups and rice bowls look like miniature works of art. This refinement extends to what at first appears to be mundane vessels with an unfinished rustic look. Their beauty only becomes apparent only when over time, one acquires an appreciation of what the Japanese called wabi-sabi, a concept rooted in Zen Buddhism which roughly translates to the acceptance of all things imperfect and transient. Thus when I started collecting ceramics, it was quite natural to start with Japanese tea ware that embody a wabi-sabi aesthetic. This means that the vessel is hand-built rather than cast from a factory mould, and stands out not by loud ornate designs but by a sublime “stillness”.

Featured in the photo gallery below are a selection of tea bowls (chawan) from my collection. None of them are antiques (can’t afford those), but to my delight, affordable works are available on the market that artfully blend traditional forms with modern sensibilities. These are the pieces I try to acquire. As of now, I’ve amassed about thirty pieces of Japanese ceramics, comprising mainly chawan but also a few tea cups, two items that are central to the Japanese tea ceremony, a practice that goes back to the 1500s when the tea master Sen no Rikyu revolutionized Japanese tea culture by infusing it with the wabi-sabi aesthetic of rustic simplicity.

This post is by no means an introduction to the world of Japanese ceramics, a huge topic on its own. That would be the story for another day. For now, I invite you to sit back and relax, and enter into the timeless world of the chawan, the iconic tea ware that has become a celebrated object of art.

The Charm of Chawan

Kuro (black) tea bowl (chawan), W 11.5 cm x H 8 cm. The first chawan was created in the raku style by Chojiro, a tile craftsman, with the guidance of the famed 16th century tea master, Sen no Rikyu. This chawan (a replica of the original) exemplifies the sober vide of the early chawans favored by Sen no Rikyu that emphasize simplicity over ostentation. The irregular shape of the bowl and its rough undecorated surface, also reflects the ideals of the wabi-sabi aesthetic of appreciating beauty despite imperfections.
Details of the above chawan.
Mino-yaki grey and brown chawan, W 11 cm x H 7 cm. Mino pottery is one of the oldest in Japanese with a history that dates to about 1300 years. This contemporary chawan has the shape of a traditional tea bowl, glaze-brushed with the kanji character for “nothingness” on the surface in line with the Zen philosophy of seeking enlightenment through detachment from material wants.
Aka (red) raku chawan, W 12.5 cm x H 8.8 cm. Apart from black, red tea bowls were also made in the early period. This red chawan is a replica of a 17th century bowl made by the famed Hon
a mi Koetsu. Like the original, it has an angular shape and a textured surface with darker and lighter shades of glaze. Made by Sasaki Shoraku of Shoraku kiln in Kyoto.
A shallow chawan by Ito Keiraku (b. 1942). This is a split-tone hira (shallow) chawan made in the late 1990s by the noted potter Ito Keiraku. It is hand-turned and the front is decorated with su-in stamps, a technique that dates back to Raku Chonyu VII (1714-1770). Ito Keiraku (b. 1942) is a raku-ware potter and member of Katsura Gama kiln in Kyoto founded in the early 1950s.
Another view of the shallow chawan.
An Ido-style Shigaraki chawan, W 12.5 cm, H 8 cm. This elegant globular tea bowl is handcrafted in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The name Ido refers to the simple bowls that were first imported into Japan from Korea in the sixteenth century. Because of their generous proportions, the Japanese dubbed these bowls “ido” or “deep well,” and they became popular for use in the tea ceremony. Shigaraki is one of Japan’s six old kilns, with a history that goes back more than 1200 years.
A Shino chawan, W 11 cm x H 6.8 cm. This chawan is made by firing white stoneware clay with shino glaze at very high temperatures, resulting in the characteristic “crawling cracks” over the a satin-like creamy white surface that is sometimes accented with splashes of orange and other colors created during the firing process. Shino ware as a long history dating back to the Momoyama period (1568-1600).
Another side of the above chawan, showing the raw clay peeking between the glaze.
The playful style of this chawan belies the fact that it dates back to the 16th century. Known as Oribe style (after Furuka Oribe, a student of Sen no Rikyu), it is characterized by an irregular clog-like shape, black and creamy white glaze and decorations inspired by nature as can be sheen in this example. Perhaps oribe wares are the first “experimental” ceramic style of making tea bowls in Japan that paved the way to more adventurous artistic styles favored by modern ceramic artists.
A small oribe chawan glazed with a beige background on which are decorated abstract free-form designs in dark brown.
A hand-made Bizen tea bowl with scarlet sash marks by Fumio Kuwabata (b. 1948).

This abstract-looking tea bowl is made by master potter Fumio Kawabata using the shizen nerikomi technique to allow for the expression of Bizen clay in its natural state. The surface is beautifully accented by scarlet sash marks obtained by wrapping straw around the ware to leave unpredictable red color blotches on the ware during firing (the Hidasuki method).

As one of Japan’s six great pottery traditions, Bizen ware emerged during the Kamakura Period (1186-1333) though its origins trace back to the Heian Period (794-1185) and perhaps earlier. Taking its name from the former province in what is today eastern Okayama Prefecture, Bizen ware is unusual in that it is always fired in a wood-burning kiln and traditionally left unglazed, creating an earthly charm while allowing distinct features of the clay to be imparted to the finished work.

Fumio Kawabata was born in Yokohama city in 1948, far from Okayama. Nevertheless, he was captivated by the beauty of Bizen ware, and in 1974, decided to give up a career as a graphic designer to become a professional potter. After studying under Bizen master, Kaneshige Riemon, he established his own kiln, making Bizen wares mainly for private exhibitions. Kawabata’s list of awards is long. He is a past winner of the Grand Prize at the Modern Tea Forms Exhibition at the Tanabe Museum of Art. His other awards include the Okayama Prefectural Governors Prize and prizes awarded by the National Ceramics Biennale.

A small ash-glazed chawan with abstract black patterns. This chawan has a diameter of only 8 cm compared to 10-12 cm for typical tea bowls. It is wood-fired with a special recipe of ash glaze and other ingredients. The original chawan was undecorated. I added ceramic paint to create the abstract patterns on one side of the bowl in the style of the modern raku master, Raku Kichizaemon XV.
A Shino chawan with abstract design, hand-built in Mino Province, Gifu Prefecture, Central Japan.

I do not know what made this chawan except that it was made pre-1940. But whoever made it must have had an appreciation of Western abstract art. While most Shino chawan are accented by traditional brushwork, this bowl is decorated with lively abstract patterns that reminds me of the biomorphic forms in paintings by the surrealist artist, Joan Miro (1893-1983), giving it an avant-garde and playful feel.

Joan Miro, ‘Star and Smoke’, 1967. Aquatint and etching on rag paper, 75 cm x 56 cm. Private collection.

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