Specialty. Raku ware tea bowl, black, by Chojiro. It is said that Rikyu loved this bowl so much that he called it “bald” because he never took it away from his seat. It is a small but powerful tea bowl with a unique tea glaze in a generally black color, and is said to be a bowl that fully expresses the artist’s mood. It seems to have been made by Chojiro to suit Rikyu’s taste, and after many years of use, the glaze has become stale and lacks luster. It was later transferred to Yamada Sohen and Sakamoto Shusai, and then returned to Omotesenke. It is said that the Omotesenke family had a custom of not showing the potter’s wheel to others except for the annual Rikyu ceremony. (Taisho Meikikan)
