Yakishime chawan named Tekifu budō-iro purple fire effect signed Gekifūsei with original wooden tomobako displayed on wooden table with ukiyoe print in background, late Shōwa period Japan

Yakishime chawan named Tekifu with budō-iro fire effect, signed by Gekifūsei with original wooden tomobako, late Shōwa period

Name: Japanese yakishime chawan budō-iro signed Gekifūsei tomobako | KAIKO&CO
Brand: KAIKO&CO
Price: 285.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

€285.00

The first time I held this bowl, I turned it slowly in both hands and tried to work out what I was looking at. Purple, deep crimson, ashy grey, a band of pale white on the inside where the heat had settled differently. None of it looked applied. It looked like something that had happened to the clay rather than something done to it.

That is, more or less, exactly what yakishime is.

Yakishime is the practice of placing unglazed clay in a wood-fired kiln and letting the fire decide the rest. In the Bizen tradition this has been practiced for over a thousand years, and the surfaces it produces, rough clay, fire-born colour, marks that record the firing like a landscape, became one of the foundations of Japanese tea ceremony aesthetics. A bowl made this way was not decorated. It was shaped, placed in a kiln, and submitted to fire.

That is, more or less, exactly what yakishime is.

What makes this chawan special

The up close look and feel

The outer surface moves through grape purple (budō-iro, 葡萄色), deep crimson, and dry ash grey depending on where the flame reached during firing. In places the clay is gritty and porous, almost sandy under a fingertip; in others a faint sheen records where the heat was most sustained.

The interior is lighter, marked with pale ash where the heat settled and cooled. Held in both hands the bowl sits in the palms rather than being gripped, the low wide form designed for exactly this. The unglazed foot ring is rough against the fingers, the raw clay completely exposed. No glaze anywhere. What you see and feel is clay and fire, nothing added.

Charming details

The tomobako carries two names, not one. On the right reads 滴布 (Tekifu), "dripping cloth," the poetic name the maker chose for this bowl. Below it, a second line: 天不知盃 (ten fuchi hai), "the cup that does not know heaven." This second name is a description of the bowl's character, unglazed, earth-bound, made by fire rather than intention.

Look at the surface and the name makes immediate sense: the colour pools and spreads the way ink does on wet paper, deciding its own edges. The maker also incised his name directly into the base of the bowl before firing, so the signature is part of the clay itself. Both names and both signatures are part of the same considered act of naming and making.

- Made by 激風生 Gekifūsei
- Signature: incised into the bowl base before firing, and in ink on the tomobako with red seal
- Working in the yakishime tradition, Bizen style
- Included: original signed wooden tomobako box, original cream storage cloth with maker's red seal stamp
- Style: Yakishime (焼き締め): high-fired unglazed stoneware in the Bizen tradition (備前焼). The budō-iro (葡萄色) grape-purple coloration and surface fire effects result from direct flame contact during wood firing. No glaze was applied at any stage.
- Ca. 1970 to 1990, late Shōwa period.
- Diameter: approx. 13.5 cm
- Height: approx. 7.5 cm
- Weight: approx. 380 gr
- Excellent vintage condition.
- No cracks, chips or repairs.
- Light surface wear consistent with ceremonial use.
- Because the clay is unglazed and porous, rinse this bowl in warm water only, without soap, after use.
- Allow it to air-dry completely before returning it to the tomobako.
- A brief warm water rinse before first use allows the clay to settle and brings out the depth of the surface colour.
- No microwave, no dishwasher, no prolonged soaking.