This elegant teapot has a slightly raised, weathered-wood-like texture, and a slight metallic sheen. The sheen flirts nicely with the light and gives the teapot a bit of a dressy appearance. Yokei has given this teapot a delicate, smooth, stand-up collar that cradles the lid perfectly (no wiggle or play!)
Yokei has created a teapot with a fine example of yohen, a natural finish or effect that was created in a wood burning kiln over the course of two firings. The artist achieved this finish by controlling the placement of the teapot in relation to the heat and flame inside of his kiln, and by covering the teapot in rice husks to attract the fame to leave signature marks.
The color tonality of this lovely teapot is dramatic and it changes from top to bottom. The top half of the teapot is dark; the bottom is a stunning plum-turning-to-russet-brown color. All over the surface of the teapot there is just a touch of shimmer depending upon how you hold it. This teapot features a gauzy color shift from top to bottom that is dificult to delineate with the eye.
This teapot has a strong, confident presence, and it is a lovely marriage of traditional design with contemporary interpretation: the results are unique each time Yokei fires a teapot and cannot be duplicated exactly from teapot to teapot. Yokei is a highly regarded teapot craftsman. He began to study teapot making under his father Keikan (MIZUNO Keikan) in 1976 and has been making teapots on his own since 1978.
Please Note:
This is a handmade item – slight variations in the painting, colors, tooling, patterning and kiln effects of Chinese and Japanese tea wares 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.
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