Height 8.9.cm, mouth diameter 13.0 cm, base diameter 6.0 cm
Hokuriku University
This is considered to be one of the most outstanding Kizeto teabowls in existence. If a series of tea bowls such as “Namba” were originally mukozuke, such an evaluation may be natural. After being thrown on the potter’s wheel, the workmanship of this bowl was done by hand with a strong and deliberate technique. In particular, the height of the body is extremely dynamic, with strong spatula lines within the body and good use of spatulas on the sides of the body. The almost straight body is slightly warped at the mouth edge, and the body is covered with a single horizontal stripe, with a chamfered spatula on a portion of the waist. The flat surface is similar to that of Seto black tea bowls. The glaze is fully covered up to the high stand, but the glaze on the outside is thinner than that on the inside, which is why it is burnt dark brown around the mouth and from the base to the high stand, and the glaze on the inside is slightly thicker and burnished to a dark yellowish fried skin, and a shiny streak appears on a part of the outside. It is a strong and yet apologetic tea bowl with a deep taste. The name “Asaina” was written directly by Sen Sotan in red lacquer on the side of the bowl’s pedestal in reference to its power, and of course, it is associated with the hero Asahina Saburo Yoshihide.
The author of “Asaina Tea Bowl, Sotan” on the front of the lid of the inner box is unknown. The inscription on the back of the lid, “Mune Katsu no Asahina Zasa (Hanaseki),” was written by Esen Soza. It may have been handed down to the Sen family as belonging to Muneyatsu, but later became the property of the Mitsui Hachiroemon family, and remained in their possession until recently. It was later owned by the Mitsui Hachiroemon family and remained in their possession until recently. It was probably also made by Ohgaya.
