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Up for sale is this "Antique IDO CHAWAN style HAGI pottery teabowl #5001" If you have any questions please contact us before buy it. No reserve.
- width: approx. 14cm (5 33⁄64in)
- tall: approx. 8.2cm (3 15⁄64in)
- weight: 336g
Hagi pottery
Hagi ware emerged over 400 years ago. It is a type of Japanese pottery very identifiable for its mixed clay made with three type soils (Daido soil, Mitake soil and Mishima soil) and the use of a feldspar glaze. It originated after the Imjin War (1592-1597) with the ‘Lee Brothers’ potters from Korea. A feature of the clay is that it is comparatively soft and absorbent. Hagi tea bowls are perfect for green tea. The more often you use them, the greater their charm, as the surface develops a patina from properties in the tea penetrating the inside of the bowl over time.
During the Edo period, the Hagi ware pottery was under clan protection, but with the upheaval of the Meiji Restoration it lost its support and faced hardship, and the majority of it disappeared along with the Westernization of Japan. However, Miwa Kyusetsu established the unique “Kyusetsu-jiro (Kyusetsu-white)” style, and in addition, the twelfth generation Sakakura Shinbe spread Hagi ware throughout the country, which saved it from decline.
The charm of Hagi ware – The seven disguises of Hagi
Known as bowls loved by masters of the tea ceremony since long ago, so much so that they are celebrated in “Raku first, Hagi second, Karatsu third,” they enjoy firmly-rooted popularity.
However, it is not unusual to hear stories such as “When I poured some tea into the bowl I bought at Hagi the other day, it soaked through to the outside of the bowl. I wonder if it’s a defective item.” That’s because in fact, when you first start using Hagi ware, it sometimes leaks.
However, this leaking is actually the biggest feature of Hagi ware. The soft-textured soil of Hagi ware is coarse and has a lot of tiny gaps. Furthermore, moisture permeates into the bowl through fine cracks called “intrusions” which occur on the surface of the bowl due to the difference in shrinkage ratios between the soil and the glaze, and may even come out onto the surface.
By repeatedly pouring tea into a teacup which was leaking at first, the coarse soil gradually becomes clogged by tea stains, and stops leaking. Thus, by using Hagi ware for many years, the likes of the ingredients in the tea soak into the intrusions, and the texture changes. This phenomenon is called “The seven disguises of Hagi,” and it is a main feature which makes Hagi ware highly valued as bowls for the tea ceremony among those who like elegant simplicity.
Due to these circumstances, there are many simple Hagi ware pieces, and almost none are decorated with the likes of painting.
Ido chawan
“Ido” chawan (tea bowl) is the first of three types of famous Japanese Tea Ceremony bowls. A very famous saying in the Tea Cremony is “"First Ido, second Raku, third Karatsu". It means Ido chawan is the highest grade tea bowl. Even though Ido chawan did not originate in Japan but in Korea, many Japanese have recognized them as the top grade tea bowl for the Tea Ceremony through the ages. Ido chawan was a low grade bowl used for daily necessities in the early Joseon dynasty in Korea (1392-1910). Substantial numbers of Ido chawan were shipped to japan in order to meet Japanese demand. By the Momoyama period in Japan (1568-1603), famous tea ceremony artist Sen no Rikyu had appeared and was promoting the wabi spirit in the Tea ceremony. Wabi means finding the beauty in imperfection. So Ido chawan from Korea hit the heart of many Japanese people who were pursuing the wabi spirit at that time. The shapes of Ido chawan bowls are imperfect indeed, however they contain perfect natural