Milky Blue Hagi-yaki Ido Chawan

Senryūzan Kiln

$478.00

Bowl

A

B

C

D

E

F

This stunning wood-fired Ido chawan (matcha bowl) represents the pinnacle of Senryūzan Kiln's artistry and mastery of their craft. The famous iron-rich Hagi mishima (三島) clay is hand-thrown on a kick wheel before being covered in an ash and slip glaze and fired in a climbing kiln in an reducing atmosphere, producing a beautiful effect with fine crazing, and shades of milky blue, grey, and even purple.

Hagi-yaki was founded in the early 1600s by Korean potters producing Korean-style teaware in Japan. Among the most popular styles of Korean chawan was the Ido Chawan (井戸茶碗) and many early Hagi-yaki piece aimed to produce Ido chawan in Japan. This bowl continues that tradition, capturing the traditional shape of an Ido chawan with its tall bamboo-node foot (竹の節高台 - takenofushi kōdai) complete with a point at the centre (兜巾 - tokin), and its subtle spiralled shape with gentle rokurome (ろくろ目 - potters' wheel marks) which shows the flow of the potter's fingers as they shaped the piece on the wheel.

Putting their unique spin on this classic style, Senryūzan Kiln's unique glaze is a collaboration between potter's skill and the spirit of the kiln. Wood-fired in a traditional climbing kiln (登り窯 - nobori-gama), each piece is unique with its individual colours and texture being dependent on the kiln's flames and are entirely unpredictable. As such, only the few bowls that come out of the kiln meeting Senryūzan Kiln's strict aesthetic standards are made available, and the best of these are offered here.

Please note that bowls B and C feature the classic Hagi-yaki 'notched-foot' (切り高台 - kiri-kōdai) while the rest of the piece have a standard whole foot.

Like most Hagi ware, this piece is porous and will absorb water and tea and change colour over time. Before its first use, we recommend soaking the entire piece in warm water for at least two hours to dislodge any dust. This also allows water to fill the cracks and pores, slowing the rate at which tea stains the clay. Slowing the staining process allows the colour change to progress naturally and beautifully. With each subsequent, we suggest rinsing the bowl with hot water before preparing tea in it, as you would with any chawan.

Before using it for the first time, it is recommended to soak the piece in water for 10 minutes. This will dislodge any dust from the clay as well as slow down the natural development of patina in the glaze.

This piece was made by the skilled craftsmen at Senryūzan Kiln and wood-fired in their climbing kiln before being packed in a kiribako (wooden paulownia box) and signed by the artists.

Hagi-yaki (萩焼) is a type of Japanese pottery that comes from the town of Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan and dates back over 400 years. Some of the oldest Hagi-yaki pieces have been declared National Treasures of Japan. The natural warm hues of its clay, along with the simple lines of its forms are highly valued within the traditional aesthetics of many tea ceremony schools.

Hagi ware is said to improve with age as the tannins in the tea slowly stain the fine cracks in the glaze (called crazing or kan-nyuu), creating a rich texture known as 'nanabake', or 'the 7 transformations'. Because of this slightly porous nature, some people like to dedicate their Hagi ware to one type of tea, such as sencha, to avoid having other aromas seep into the clay.Hagi-yaki’s porosity means it requires special care. New Hagi pieces should be soaked in warm water for 2-3 hours to dislodge any dust in the clay’s pores. Some new Hagi pieces can be so porous that water leaks or soaks through the clay. Do not be alarmed, this perfectly normal and will fix itself with regular use as the tea fills in the pores of the clay. It is very important not to use soap when cleaning Hagi ware as it too can seep into the clay.

Ido chawan (井戸茶碗 - well tea bowl) are the most prized of the Korean chawan. The original Ido chawan were likely made around the Hadong area during the Joseon dynasty in the 15th and 16th centuries. There, they were known as maksabal (막사발), meaning ‘a bowl for everything’, and were most commonly used by peasants for rice, rice wine, or soup. As the Joseon elite preferred pure white porcelain, they considered these maksabal, and other Korean stoneware to be too cheap and coarse.

While this is the most well-known and commonly accepted story, recent research suggests that ido chawan may have originally been used for local ceremonial (non-tea) or ritual practices in Korea, thus explaining their relative rarity. If they were common food bowls, we might expect to have found more of them on Korean soil. However, even this theory is debated.

Either way, when these bowls made their way to Japan, their unassuming rustic simplicity and subtly uneven shapes drew the eye of teaists, and the Ido chawan became the emblematic chawan of wabicha. Ironically, these ‘cheap Korean bowls’ became some of the most expensive and sought after chawan in Japan.

There are various criteria used to judge ido chawan. While each ido chawan might not possess all of these characteristics, they are common to the style.

- Roughly conical shape,
- Takenofushi kōdai (竹の節高台 - bamboo node foot): a tall foot, often with a ridge like a bamboo node
- Rokurome (轆轤目 - potters' wheel marks): a subtle spiral shape left by the potter's fingers as they shaped the piece on the wheel
- Kairagi (かいらぎ/梅花皮 - plum flower texture): a crawling glaze texture on and around the foot
- Meato (目跡): unglazed spots inside the bowl where balls of clay were used to separate bowls stacked in the kiln
- Tokin (兜巾): a point at the centre of the foot
- Biwa-iro (枇杷色 - loquat colour): a rich, warm beige colour
- Sōgusuri (総釉 - total glaze): the entire bowl, including the foot, is glazed

The original Korean Ido chawan can also be roughly sorted into three main shapes:

- Ō-ido (大井戸 - large Ido)
- Ko-ido (小井戸 - small Ido)
- Ao-ido (青井戸 - blue Ido)

Ō-ido bowls, like their name suggests, are very large and imposing, often over 15cm in diameter, which is actually a bit too big to be practical as a chawan (in fact, there is a famous ido bowl that Furuta Oribe thought was too big, so he broke it into pieces and reassembled it smaller). They have a tall bamboo node-shaped foot (竹の節高台 - takenofushi kōdai), and a slightly curved but roughly conical shape.

Ko-ido bowls are similar, but smaller with a much less pronounced foot.

Ao-ido bowls also have shorter feet and have much straighter, conical walls without the gentle curve seen in Ō-ido bowls. The 'blue' in their name may come from the colder glaze colour that many of these bowls have.

Founded in 1826 towards the end of Edo period, Senryūzan Kiln contines the traditional techniques of Hagi-yaki, employing a kick wheel for many of their piece, instead of the more convenient electric pottery wheel. They also continue to make all of their clays and glazes in-house, rather than rely on commercially available materials, meaning their works reflect the natural materials, colours, and textures of Hagi. Lastly, firing in a wood-fired climing kiln (登り窯 - noborigama) gives each piece a unique charm and unpredictability not found in gas-fired ceramics.