Height 9.0cm, mouth diameter 10.0-10.8cm, base diameter 4.0cm
The writer of the inscription “Wotokose” is written on the back of the lid of the inner box, but the former owner, Hirase Roka, wrote on a cover sheet, “Hakosho who is the author of this piece”. However, judging from the style of the writing, it is probably the work of Sen Sotan. On the outer box, Saigyoan Shimomura Saneguri, the former owner of “Shigure”, wrote “Koetsu red tea bowl, Otsu-gozen”. Although the ancient origin of this bowl is not known, it is assumed to have belonged to Sotan, and later passed to the Hirase family in Osaka, where it became the property of Morikawa Nyoshunan in 1903. The Morikawa family owned two of Koetsu’s masterpieces, “Shigure” and “Otogozen,” which made him famous as a tea master.
When I hold the bowl in my hand, I feel that “Otogozen,” or Otafuku, was named after her. No other inscription could compare to it. If you look at the mouth from above, you will see the face of Otafuku with puffy cheeks, and if you look at the base of the bowl face down, you will see that the area around the base is higher than the base, giving it the appearance of Otafuku with a low nose. The mouth is generally held inward, but there is a slight curvature at the edges, and from the body to the waist and along the edge of the pedestal, the body has an odd fullness that cannot be sought again. The body is oval in shape. The base is extremely low and is carved as if a round, flat piece of clay were pressed against it, which was slightly pushed inward during the firing process, resulting in a more interesting shape around the bottom of the body.
There is one thick crack around the waist, three vertical cracks, and four cracks around the mouth. The red clay is used, and the transparent yuzu over the entire surface is well melted, showing fine penetrations, and the red glaze color is a slightly subdued ripe persimmon color, which is also unique to Koetsu red tea bowls. The degree of firing fire seems to have been considerably higher than that of Chojiro ware red tea bowls.
