Japanese Ohi Ware Match Tea Bowl Chawan by Ohi Choami with Signed Wooden Box Tomobako #5595

Beyond the deep, dark clay beneath the hands, the breeze of the Taisho era seemed to whisper.

In the eleventh year of Taisho—1922—a young artisan had just completed his rigorous training in Kyoto. His name was Ohi Choami. Having formally studied ceramics at Ishikawa Prefectural Technical School and refined his technique alongside the vivid Kutani porcelain masters of Yamashiro, he stood at a defining threshold. In this year, drawn as if by fate, Choami stepped into the intimate world of hand-molded Raku ceramics.

Unbound by the mechanical rhythm of the potter’s wheel, Raku required the artisan to commune with raw earth using only his fingers. Enchanted by this tactile freedom and the profound warmth of shaping clay by hand, Choami established his own kiln in 1925—marking the birth of the Ohi Choami kiln. Throughout a long, dedicated life that spanned the Taisho, Showa, and Heisei eras, he devoted himself to the craft, eventually assuming the leadership of the Ishikawa Ohi Ware Craft Cooperative Association in 1971.

Before us rests one of his remarkable tea bowls.

Lifted into the hands, the lingering breath of the clay and the gentle contours left by Choami’s fingers convey a satisfying, grounded weight. Yet the true splendor of this chawan lies in its mesmerizing visual landscape.

Over a deep, dark base glaze that cradles a quiet serenity, dense cascades of opaque white and subtle greenish glazes sweep dramatically downward. Where these layered glazes intersect and flow, they create a striking, dynamic contrast—evoking the sudden thaw of a winter mountain stream or a curtain of light shifting across a dark sky. This interplay lends the surface a captivating depth and texture that draws the viewer ever deeper into its folds.

As soft steam rises in the quiet shadows of the tearoom, this single bowl comes alive in the guest’s hands—silently echoing Choami’s lifelong passion for clay and inspiring warm conversation around the hearth.

width: approx. 12cm (4.72in)

height: approx. 7.6cm (3.0in)

weight: approx. 256g (w/ 473g)

condition: Urushi lacquer fixed in foot

Accessories: Wooden Box (Tomobako), Leaflet (Shiori)

Shipping: Shipped from Japan with a tracking number. We take great care in professional packaging to ensure the item arrives safely.

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