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 randomly appearing gradients of the glazes, was meticulously handcrafted. The simultaneously organic and simple shape gives the piece a minimalist beauty, which is contrasted by the bright red glaze. This is an absolutely unique piece, which has required countless hours of steady hand and alert eye. It is not for people who rush 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 consideration during the manufacturing process in order to be able to completely absorb the usual filling volume of an infusion during a tea ceremony. In the leather-hard state, the clay was neatly turned and the bottom was modelled.
The tea bowl was then glazed using the old Japanese raku technique. The Raku technique is not very widespread in Europe because of its dangerousness. The ceramics are taken out of the kiln at over 1000 degrees Celsius, glowing yellow, and packed in beech wood shavings. The hot ceramics ignite these immediately on contact and ignite soot, ashes and flames. This in turn is responsible for the black colouring of the ceramics and crackle.
The rapid drop in temperature causes stress cracks (cracs) and craquelé in the vessel. The soot finds every crack, no matter how small, and is also the reason why the ceramics continue to smell of fire, soot and ashes for some time after firing. However, the smell disappears relatively quickly!
The handmade tea bowl has a wobble-free and stable base. It is not 100% waterproof, which is due to Japanese technology. Due to the suspended matter contained in the tea, the few still open tubules quickly sinter and seal the Chawan.
The empty tea bowl weighs approx. 194 g and has a filling volume of approx. 180 mL. It is about 7 cm high and the diameter of the upper edge is about 8 cm.
