Name: Zenkan Karatsu
Important Cultural Property
Height: 7.6 – 7.9 cm
Diameter: 15.3 – 15.8 cm
Outer diameter of foot: 6.6 cm
Height of foot: 0.6 – 0.9 cm
This is a tea bowl known as the best bowl in Karatsu. The name Korekan is said to come from a doctor called Nakao Korekan, who owned it, or it is said that it was made to his taste, but there is no reliable source, so it is not certain.
The clay is a rough, sandy soil that has been fired hard, giving it a stony feel.
It contains a small amount of iron, and the unglazed parts have a light brown color from burning, but they are stained with tea stains and have a dark color. A dull, translucent, glossy glaze covers the inside and outside, and the outside below the waist is unglazed.
The shape is slightly warped at the rim, with a wide mouth and short body, and a wide, low foot ring, giving it the appearance of a tea bowl with a persimmon band. It is a thickly made bowl with a solid, heavy feel, and a shape that is rare for Karatsu ware.
The base is shallow and has been shaved down in one go, but one side is thick and the other is thin, with a hood-shaped stand in the middle, giving it a plain but attractive foot. The inside of the bowl has a mottled glaze that resembles the skin of a Japanese apricot, and the triangular shape of the exposed clay is surrounded by a thick, bluish glaze. There are five small marks, and the surrounding area has a few spots that look like rain leaks, adding to the elegance of the piece. The firing was slightly on the soft side, and due to the neutral flame, some parts have a loquat-like color, but there are also parts that are more reduced, and have a bluish tinge. There is one stone flake on the body, and there are a few channels around the rim, but they are not very noticeable.
The shape is reminiscent of a persimmon belt, but it is a solid, heavy teacup that reminds one of a well, and it is a famous teacup that stands out from the rest in Karatsu.
Incidentally, in the book “A History of Japanese Pottery”, Imaizumi Yusaku states, “The three types of Karatsu ware – Karatsu ware, Korean Karatsu ware, and Seto Karatsu ware – all bear the name Karatsu, but they are not Japanese at all. Korekan Karatsu is a type of Karatsu ware with a slightly reddish hue, but it has never been considered to be genuine Karatsu ware. There is also the view that Korai Karatsu was not originally made as tea bowls, but as miscellaneous vessels, but I think that they were made as tea bowls, both in terms of shape and the way the glaze was applied.
Korai Karatsu was probably made at the end of the Momoyama period and the beginning of the Edo period, but it is not clear which kiln in Karatsu made it. It is probably a Karatsu ware from the Matsuura family, but it is not clear whether it is from the Iidō ware or the Fujinokawauchi ware.
The accompanying items are
an inner box, black lacquer, gold-powder lettering on the lid, “Korekan Karatsu tea bowl, three treasures”
It is known as a famous Karatsu tea bowl, and it was passed down in the Konoike family along with the Nakao Karatsu tea bowl.
