Accessories
Inner box: Ironwood, lid with peony gold lacquer, Tang grass lacquer, gold powder sprinkled; Outer box: Paulownia wood, body covered with cloth, inscription
Provenance: Seikado
Listed in: Tea Utensil Appraisal Book
Dimensions: Height 6.8–7.3 cm, Mouth diameter: 10.0–12.9 cm, Base diameter: 6.9 cm, Height: 0.9 cm, Weight: 356 g
Owner: Tokyo Seikado
This is a treasured bowl of the Seikado Iwasaki family, and can be considered a masterpiece of the same style as the “Yūyō” and “Hikaku” bowls. In terms of shape and style, there is nothing particularly unusual about it. However, the high foot, which was cut with a chisel, is a distinctive feature. The use of the chisel may have been excessive, resulting in a shape that is more circular than angular, which distinguishes it from other pieces.
As is customary, a black brushstroke is applied beneath the white glaze, but there are no iron paintings in the white windows, and it consists of alternating white and black sections. While this may give it a slightly austere appearance, the subtle beauty of the black glaze more than compensates for this. In other words, this is a result of the interplay between the white glaze on top. In the thinner areas of the upper glaze, the black is a gold-colored glaze with tea-brown iron sand, while in the thicker areas it is jet black. Where the white glaze is thickly layered, it takes on a mouse-gray hue reminiscent of mouse-gray ware. This is a tea bowl of endless variation that never ceases to fascinate.
Inner box: Ironwood, lid with gold-painted peony design, surface with gold-painted vine pattern and gold powder decoration
Outer box: Paulownia wood, body with cloth lining, inscription
