Height 8.8 cm, mouth diameter lO.O cm, high base diameter 5.8 cm.
This vase is also marked in the center of the base with a similar mark. The mouth is held slightly inward, the body is slightly tightened, and the hem of the body is taut. The inside of the stand is rounded off and there are three marks on the tatami, and the yuzu on the whole body is smoothly melted. On the side of the inner box, Senzoso inscribed “Chojiro ware, Rikyu’s tea bowl, Soshitsu (Hanashii)” and on the back of the cover of the box lid, a letter from Haraso was used, which reads “Chojiro raku seal, I have received this seal from Lord Hideyoshi since old age,” and also states “It is especially good because it is a seal of the house. According to the inscription on the box, the tea bowl with the Raku character seal was in Rikyu’s possession, and the fact that it was in Rikyu’s possession indicates that this type of seal was fired in Chojiro’s kiln before Tensho 19, making it a valuable source for studying Chojiro ware. Since this Raku character seal is also stamped on incense burners made by Sokei, it should be considered to have been a seal shared by “Tenkaichi Chawan-ya” such as Chojiro, Sokei, Soami, and Tsunekei from the late Tensho period to the Bunroku and Keicho periods, when another seal was used by Tsunekei. And since all the tea bowls from the tea bowl shop were sold to the public as Chojiro ware, Sodan, Sengen, and other tea masters must have followed the customary practice of referring to their tea bowls as Chojiro ware.
