Height: 7.9 cm; Mouth diameter: 9.9–10.2 cm; Foot diameter: 5.1 cm
On the underside of the inner box lid, Rokuro-sai has inscribed: “Red Tea Bowl, made by Kichizaemon, Left (signature).” Needless to say, this piece was created during the period when Keinyu was known as Kichizaemon—namely, between the second year of the Kōka era (though the work is said to have been produced starting in the third year) and the fourth year of the Meiji era. While it is not as skillfully crafted as his representative work after shaving his head, “Irifune” (Fig. 30), it can be considered typical of his work from the Kichizaemon period. A “raku” seal—said to have been selected from the calligraphy manuals of Dong Qichang used between the first year of Ansei and the fourth year of Meiji—is stamped inside the foot ring; this seal is commonly referred to as the “naka-in” (inner seal), and this bowl is likely one of the earliest examples of a bowl bearing this inner seal. The rim, slightly curved inward, is shaped like the Five Sacred Mountains with gentle undulations, and the overall form is semi-cylindrical. A step is carved beside the foot, a basket-weave pattern encircles the waist, and vertical grooves are applied to the body. Meanwhile, greenish-brown fire-change patterns have appeared on both the interior and exterior, and the brushstrokes of the ochre applied over the raw clay remain yellow against the red glaze.
