CHAWAN - TEA BOWL

Here, the English potter Bernard Leach elaborates on the tea ceremony with a statement on the immaterial aesthetic ideals tied to the Japanese tea ceremony

Leach describes that in order to fully appreciate the beauty of the ceramic tea bowl, it is necessary to engage its utility. Indeed, the tea bowl provides a contemplative and utilitarian anchor for the innately meditative Japanese tea ceremony. Not only is the optical quality of chawan an essential part of its meditative identity, but so are its physical properties In other words, the chawan holds value in characteristics that lie beyond the visual relationship between the beholder and the tea bowl’s surface. For example, particular attention may be paid to the weight of the bowl. Its mass may emphasize a more ethereal and gentle character, or a powerful and robust quality. The temperature of the clay’s glazed surface at first touch, and subsequently over time, is also a core component of the appreciation of a tea bowl. Contemporary potters produce work that is fertile ground for providing such sources of inspiration

Browse our website for a selection of available tea bowls by Japan's ceramic masters.

Pictured above are two tea bowls by the Mingei master Murata Gen.