This beautiful Japanese tea bowl, a chawan, lives the Japanese philosophy that everything is individual, every inch of it. Every step of the process, including the random-looking gradients of the glazes, was meticulously handcrafted. The simultaneously organic and simple form gives the piece a minimalist beauty, which is contrasted by the bright blue glaze. This is an absolutely unique piece that has required countless hours of steady hand and watchful eye. It is not for people who down their tea, it is something for connoisseurs!
The tea bowl is hand-turned on the potter's wheel. The rounding (shrinking) of the clay was already taken into account during the production process in order to be able to completely accommodate the usual filling volume of an infusion during a tea ceremony. In the leather-hard state, the clay was neatly turned and the base modelled.
Subsequently, the tea bowl was worked in the glaze belt using the old Japanese raku technique. The raku technique is not very widespread in Europe because it is dangerous. The ceramics are taken out of the kiln glowing yellow at over 1000 degrees Celsius and packed in beechwood chips. The hot ceramics ignite these immediately on contact and ignite soot, ash and flames. This in turn is responsible for the black colouring of the ceramics and the craquelé.
The rapid drop in temperature causes stress cracks (cracs) and a craquelé in the vessel. The soot finds every crack, no matter how small, and is also the reason why the ceramics smell of fire, soot and ash for a while after firing. However, the smell dissipates relatively quickly!
The handmade tea bowl has a wobble-free and stable base. It is not 100% waterproof, which is due to the Japanese technique. Due to the suspended matter in the tea, the few still open channels quickly sap and seal the chawan.
The tea bowl weighs approx. 150 g, which is relatively little for a vessel of this size/function. It is about 6.5 cm high and has a diameter of about 8 cm at the upper rim. The filling volume is 150 mL.
