Height: 7.3 cm, Rim Diameter: 9.5 cm, Foot Diameter: 4.3 cm
These two tea bowls were made as a nesting set. Both the red and black bowls are thin-walled and feature a rounded, square shape from the rim to the body. The black bowl features a so-called “yellow-bald” glaze on one side of the body, depicting Mount Fuji, while the foot and surrounding area reveal a rough white clay texture. The red tea bowl is sized to fit inside the black one and is made even thinner than the black bowl. It is coated entirely with red clay, with eggplant painted on the exterior and a hawk on the interior using white slip, then covered with a transparent glaze. It is a beautiful bowl featuring vivid red hues and deep fire-change effects; together with the black bowl, this pair depicts the “First Dream” motif of “First Mount Fuji, Second the Hawk, Third the Eggplant.”
A middle seal is stamped on the side of the footring of the black bowl and beneath the glaze on the inside of the footring of the red bowl, suggesting that these works were created between the ages of 38 and 55.
The box is an original box with the inscription “Fuji, Hawk, and Eggplant Design: Red and Black Square Bowls, Made by Raku Kichizaemon” written by Kei-nyu on the underside of the lid.
