Height: 8.0 cm, Mouth Diameter: 9.6 cm, Foot Diameter: 4.2 cm
This is a chunky tea bowl with a completely different style from works such as the “Kuro-in-jin” tea bowl inscribed ‘Ōzora’ or the “Kuro-fuji-e” square tea bowl. It features five peaks of varying heights at the rim, a rounded body tapering down to the waist, and diagonal ridges running around the entire exterior. The foot is small, the base is wide, and the interior of the foot is roughly carved—a rare feature in Kei-nyu’s works. The foot and the area around it are left exposed, revealing brushstrokes of ochre clay. The Hachō (Eight Treasures) motif is painted in white slip on one side of the exterior and the interior, and a transparent glaze is applied unevenly, but the distinct green fire-change is vivid. A middle seal is stamped on the side of the foot, and on the underside of the box lid, Kei-nyu has inscribed: “Treasure Exhaustion Painting, Red Tea Bowl, Raku Kichizaemon.” This is likely a work from the late period of the middle seal era.
