A red sun on a handmade tea bowl, a double homage to the country of origin of raku - Japan!
The tea bowl (Jap. Chawan) is an integral part of the Japanese tea ceremony and one of the pillars of Japanese culture. The raku is an ancient Japanese firing art and a part of the Japanese soul. Both central pieces have been combined with each other with care and, above all, sensitivity. In this way, a piece of the Far East can be enjoyed with every sip from the handmade tea bowl.
The tea bowl was turned by hand on the potter's wheel and at this point attention was already paid to the golden section - after all, symmetry is everything! Next, a wobble-free foot was carved out of the bottom of the tea bowl and the tea bowl was bisque-fired.
The second part of the production process was done with the Raku technique. This old Japanese firing technique is quite unknown in Germany, because it is quite elaborate and not without danger. In raku, the approx. 1000 °C hot ceramics are taken out of the kiln, yellow-hot, with long iron tongs studded with teeth and placed in beech wood chips. Due to the immense temperatures, the chips ignite instantly and the magic takes its course. In Japanese Buddhism, everything has its justification - including chance, which now shapes each tea bowl differently. Fire, soot and ash, controlled by chance, work on the surface of the tea bowl and colour it in the unique silky matt black.
Due to the raku technique, the handmade tea bowl is not yet 100% waterproof. Due to the suspended matter contained in the tea, the few still open channels sinter and quickly seal the tea bowl. Despite the most careful cleaning, the smell of soot and fire has not yet completely disappeared.
The tea bowl weighs approx. 170 g and the filling volume is approx. 150 mL. It is about 5.5 cm high and has a diameter of about 8.5 cm at the top.
