Hannya-yaki Chawan | Antique Japanese pottery teabowl #5093

height: approx. 7cm (2 3/4in)

width: approx. 13.5cm (5 5/16in)

Weight: 415g (w/ box 635g)

Artisit: unknown (or Niwa Yoshinobu (1742-1786))

The box is labeled "Hannya-pottery teabowl." I couldn't find any information on "Hannya pottery," and I'm unable to accurately interpret the brush-script since I have no experience with calligraphy. The characters on the box appear to have been written by a 78-year-old man and seem to praise Niwa Yoshinobu. It is possible that the teabowl and the drawing on the box were created by Niwa Yoshinobu, and the 78-year-old man who commissioned or otherwise came to possess this teabowl wrote the calligraphy on the box. In my research on Niwa Yoshinobu, it seems he once stayed at a place called Hannyu, which suggests that "Hannyu" is not a geographical name or a ceramic technique but merely the name of the hermitage where the teabowl was made.


Niwa Yoshinobu (1742-1786)
male
Nanga painter

An Edo period Nanga painter, whose style name was Zhangfu. Known by pseudonyms such as Xie'an and Fuzensai, he was originally a samurai from the Owari (Nagoya) domain but retired, shaved his head, and practiced Zen under Master Yungwo. Afterwards, he led a solitary and independent life, cooking for himself. He favored Ming paintings and excelled in landscape painting, becoming considered the founder of Owari Nanga.