This Kiyomizuyaki matcha bowl is simply stunning! With its color gradation and the translucent quality, the decoration has the look of a fine watercolor painting. The willowy, blossom-laden branches of a Shidarezakura (weeping cherry tree) are exquisitely rendered and the design has a wonderful sense of both depth and movement. Each soft pink cherry blossom is expertly outlined in gold, with the opened blossoms featuring multiple dots of orange glaze at their centers. The orange glaze dots are raised, providing a small touch of texture to the the bowl’s otherwise perfectly-smooth surface. Along with the gold accents, this really brings the flowers to the forefront. For the tree branches, the artist cleverly uses a glaze that bleeds during firing. This bleeding effect softens the lines, making them less prominent while conveying a sense of motion.
On the inside of the bowl there is another blossoming branch along with several errant petals, giving the sense a gentle breeze is blowing through. This interior detail looks especially pleasing when the bowl is filled with frothy green matcha.
While the footring is unglazed, the rest of the bowl has a glossy, clear glaze which shows off the lovely cream color of the bowl’s fine-grained clay.
This bowl has a simple, straightforward shape and is very comfortable to hold. It is lightweight and has a slight indent built around the outside of the bowl 3/4 of the way up from the bottom that one feels before one sees it. No matter how one holds the tea bowl this spot is exactly where one’s fingers rest. We love a detail such as this on a teabowl that takes the tea drinker into account by anticipating form and function, and shows that the potter uses their experience to comfortably fit their tea bowl to a human hand.
An elegant and fine tea bowl that would make a wonderful addition to a tea enthusiast’s collection of stylish Matcha bowls.
Founded by in 1922 in Higashiyama, Kyoto, Touan kiln is known for expertly hand-crafted and hand-painted ceramics. The kiln is staffed by a small group of highly-skilled artisans and is currently run by the Yoshiaki Dobuchi, who is an award-winning master Kyoto potter. Yoshiaki Dobuchi succeeded his father as head of the kiln in 2010, making him the ‘4th Touan’.
Please Note: This is a handmade item – slight variations in the painting, colors, tooling, patterning and kiln effects of Chinese and Japanese teawares are to be expected. We have carefully photographed this item as best as possible – please be aware that different device screens can render colors and subtle tones slightly differently.