Accessories: Inner box, paulownia wood, inscription
Provenance: Mitsui Main Family
Recorded in: Kokon Chayu Shu (Collection of Ancient and Modern Tea Ceremonies)
Dimensions: Height: 7.0–7.3 cm, mouth diameter: 9.7–12.9 cm, foot diameter: 6.4–6.6 cm, weight: 295 g
This black-brushed tea bowl has been passed down in the Mitsui main family for generations. Its majestic style is on par with the “Yūyō” (sunset) and “Hikaku” (crimson hakama) styles. Like the “Yūyō” style, it has a flat, compressed shape, but the protruding ridge at the lower part of the rim is particularly prominent, giving it a very robust form. While the white tea bowls of the same Gosho-maru style, including the Furuta Goryo, have a cylindrical upper half and a bulbous lower section from the waist down, the black brush-painted ones lack this shape. All of them are this low in height and feature a convex band below the rim. This design is closer to the Oribe tsubo-gata style. While there are tall, cylindrical tea bowls in the black Oribe style, the Gosho-maru black brush-painted ones do not have this feature.
In this tea bowl, the black brushwork is clearly and strongly visible, and it is unclear what has been painted.
It simply gives the impression of being dyed in alternating white and black. Among these, the plum-shaped dots stand out. Looking inside, the black brushwork, swept like camellias on a white background, is bold and striking.
Inner box: Paulownia wood, white lacquered, with inscription.
