Important Cultural Property
Height 8.5cm, mouth diameter 12.1cm, base diameter 4.9cm
The inscription “TOYOBO” on the front of the lid of the inner box is said to have been written by Rikyu, and “Muneyoshi (flower seal)” is written on the back of the lid, which is further inscribed “TOYOBO black tea bowl, calligraphy on the lid in Rikyu’s possession, by Soshitsu (flower seal)”. It is likely that Rikyu wrote “Touyobo” when he presented this tea bowl to his student, Touyobo. Toyobo lived at Shinnyo-do temple in Kyoto and passed away in Keicho 3, at the age of 84. According to the accompanying letter, the property was transferred from Kyosenhoin to Konoike Doyoin in Genroku 10, and then to Konoike Zen’emon in Man’en 2 for 500 ryo, and remained in the family until after World War II.
Although the neat and random workmanship is somewhat similar to that of “Okuro,” this tea bowl is almost straight from the body to the mouth, with a slight outward opening, and the mouth is also thinly made by cutting the inside, and the body from the waist to the base is almost unrounded. The rounded and small height has a wide tatami mat for a Chojiro ware tea bowl, and the inside of the height does not have a spiral helmet width, and the prospect is wide and deep. The black yuzu on the entire surface of the bowl is also unusually glossy black for a Chojiro ware, and there are five marks left on the tatami surface of the base. According to Raku Kichizaemon Kakuiri, the glazed surface of this pottery was moist and settled after many years of storage and casting when it first came from the Konoike family, but as it was used later, the surface changed to its current glossy appearance. It is one of the seven types of Chojiro vessels.
