Height 8.6cm, mouth diameter 10.2cm, base diameter 5.0cm
Fujita Museum of Art
The front of the lid of the inner box is inscribed with “Makomo” and the back of the lid is inscribed with “Tadan (Hanaseki)”, which is a unique signature of Sodan. The inscription “Makomo” (Makomomo) is said to have been named because it is much more wistful than “Ayame” (straw mat), and Soyasu Kusumi, who once owned this tea bowl, wrote, “Ayame, Makomo, two tea bowls, Makomo in possession of Sodan Yachi Sen and Ayame Yachi Sen Soshu. It is written in the “Meireki Cho-Yu (third year),” which suggests that this tea bowl was regarded as a brother to the “Ayame” bowl, but the style of work is quite different. The tea bowl was passed down from Kusumi Soyasu to Senya Ehara Chushichi in Kyoto in Hoei 4, to Yakura Yoichi in Kishiwada, Senshu in Kyoho 12, to Yamashita Yuubae in Kyoto, to Konoike Ihei in Osaka in Bunsei 5, and then to the Fujita family.
It is similar to “Ayame” in that it is slightly thicker overall, but the ro-zukuri and the height are quite different, and the kuroyuzu is not as strong as that of “Ayame”. The mouth is slightly turned inward, with a “dojime”-style protrusion in the middle of the interior, and a wide, slightly deep cut. The height is thicker and sturdier than other Chojiro teacups of this type, and the whorl helmet inside the height is modest.
Although the height of the bowl is slightly different, it is a tea bowl with the same shape as “Ookuro” and “Kitano Kuro”. It is one of the seven types of Chôjiro’s outer bowls.
