Height: 9.4 cm, Mouth Diameter: 9.0 cm, Foot Diameter: 4.3 cm
Raku Museum
It is housed in an original box with “Kurotsutsu-cha Raku Kichizaemon” inscribed on the lid of the inner box. He succeeded to the name Kichizaemon at the age of eighteen in the twelfth year of the Hōreki era (1762), taking over from Chōnyū. However, in the seventh year of the Meiwa era (1760), at the age of twenty-six, he handed the position over to his younger brother Sōjirō (Ryōnyū) and retired, passing away at the age of thirty. Consequently, he produced pottery under the name Kichizaemon for only nine years; his works are extremely rare and do not exhibit particularly strong artistic intent.
This is a small, cylindrical tea bowl with an inward-curving rim, and its style is indeed similar to that of Chōnyū. One side of the body is tapered, and several flat, chamfered grooves have been added from the waist to the edge of the foot. The foot is slightly warped; the interior has been carved away on one side, making it thinner there, and a circular kabuto-kin (helmet-shaped indentation) has been carved out in the center.
The tea pool is carved small and deep into the interior, and the character “Raku” is stamped beside the foot. It is fully glazed, with a jet-black glaze—very similar to that of Nagari—applied evenly, and traces of the foot’s folding remain visible. As a Tokunari piece, this is a fine example and can be considered a typical work.
