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What makes this chawan special
The up close look and feel
The glaze surface is not uniform and not meant to be. It is high-gloss where it pooled thickest, slightly matte where it ran thin over the rougher clay at the rim. The amber shifts toward deep red-brown at the edges and into near-black on the shaded side. In low light the bowl becomes luminous in a way that photographs do not capture.
The clay underneath is coarse and warm. The form sits completely still in both hands with the weight of 306 grams distributed low, which is exactly how a raku-gata chawan is meant to feel when it holds warm tea.
Charming details
Look at the lower body and you will find a circular stamp pressed into the clay before glazing: a flower motif inside a round border, the Maeda clan emblem, the family of feudal lords who founded this tradition in 1666 and whose patronage sustained it for two centuries.
It is not the maker's mark. It is something older: a reference to the original commission, still present on every bowl that leaves this lineage. The atelier leaflet included with this bowl describes this history in full. The ame-yu glaze itself was a creative solution born from a restriction: Kyoto raku glazes were reserved for the Kyoto kilns, so the Ōhi potter developed a new one. What began as a workaround became the most recognisable glaze in the tradition.
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Ōbi-yaki (大樋焼), hand-formed chawan, no wheel used.
Ame-yu (飴釉) iron-rich caramel glaze, low-fired in the raku tradition.
Made by Nakamura Chōami (中村長阿弥).
The kiln was established within the Ōbi-yaki tradition in the 1920s, a lineage distinct from the main Ōbi Chōzaemon family but working in the same style of hand-formed, low-fired tea ceramics.
Signed: 大樋 atelier seal pressed into the upper shoulder of the bowl. Maker's stamp on the orange nishiki wrapping cloth.
Included: the chawan, original signed tomobako (paulownia wood box), original atelier leaflet (history of Ōbi-yaki and maker's biography), orange wrapping cloth with maker's stamp.
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Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Ōbi district.
A small but telling clue helps date this piece: the atelier leaflet included with it has no postal code, a detail that places its printing before 1968, when postal codes were introduced across Japan. That points to a piece from the mid-Shōwa period, most likely the 1950s to mid-1960s.
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Diameter: ca. 12 cm
Height: ca. 8.5 cm
Weight: approx. 306 gr
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Unused.
No chips, no cracks, no repairs, no staining from use.
The glaze variation is original to the firing, not wear.
Tomobako intact and clean.
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Ōbi-yaki clay is porous and low-fired, similar to raku.
Rinse with warm water only after use, never with soap or detergent, which will penetrate the clay and affect the flavour of subsequent use.
Allow to air-dry completely for at least 24 hours before returning to the tomobako: enclosing damp clay in a wooden box will cause mold.
Do not use in a microwave or dishwasher.
With repeated use, the interior will slowly absorb tea and deepen in tone, which is expected and considered part of the bowl's life.
*Decorative items such as the whisk are for styling
and scale purposes only and not included in the sale
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