Height: 8.5 cm; Mouth diameter: 11.0–11.7 cm; Foot diameter: 4.6 cm
On the underside of the inner box lid, Ittō has inscribed: “Ichinyū-yaki Black Tea Bowl, Yomo no Yama (seal).” In contrast to Dōnyū, who left behind many tea bowls with highly elaborate forms that made full use of his exquisite technical skills, Ichinyū—perhaps seeking to return to the style based on the Rikyū-style of the Chōjirō-yaki era—created tea bowls that generally lack the rich variety of elaborate forms found in Dōnyū’s work, and many of them are characterized by a gentle, unassuming appearance. However, partly due to the influence of his father, Dōnyū, his pieces are thinner than those of the Chōjirō-yaki period, and he favored firing black-glazed bowls featuring red spots—commonly known as “shu-yu” (red glaze).
This tea bowl is the largest of Ichinyu’s works, yet, along with “Saiko,” it is truly a quintessential piece. It displays all of Ichinyu’s distinctive characteristics: the inward-curving rim, the form from the waist to the foot rim, the small, compact, and rounded foot, and the clear, circular tea pool in the wide interior. Needless to say, the black glaze with its red speckles is striking, though the red color itself is not particularly vivid. Full glaze, unmarked. Three distinct marks remain on the foot.
