Raku tea bowl
A hand-formed black tea bowl for the tea ceremony, made to be felt in the hand rather than looked at.
The tea master Sen no Rikyū had Chōjirō make bowls to his taste for simplicity, wabi. The Raku family still works in Kyoto, in its fifteenth generation. Bowls are in the Tokyo National Museum and the Raku Museum.
Materials: Earthenware with black or red lead glaze
Manufacture: Shaped by hand without a wheel, fired singly and taken glowing from the kiln to cool quickly.
The uneven, slightly asymmetric form and the soft matt glaze.
The weight and warmth of the bowl in the hand – it is made to be held.