Excavated from Yamaji-Hachiman Kiln, Higashiyamaji-cho, Seto City, Aichi Prefecture
15th century
Height 6.8cm, Bowl diameter 12.4cm, Bottom diameter 4.8cm
Tenmoku tea bowls were first produced in Seto around the end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) in response to the custom of tea drinking in the Zen temple. In the early days, these bowls were made with a taller diameter and a less bulging waist, imitating the kenkabuto style, and were high in the base. The glaze was an unstable blackish-brown color, but the shape of the vessels gradually changed during the Muromachi period (1333-1573), when the Kozeto axis was completed.
This piece is close to the middle of the Muromachi period, but the neckline under the mouth rim is not so pronounced and there is a bulge at the waist. The bottom has already been carved out to form a high plateau, but the fact that a ridge has not yet been drawn on the border between the base and the rim is indicative of the age of this piece. The clay is almost white.
The clay is slightly rough. The sleeves are applied very thickly, giving the piece a matte black color, which is rare.
