Kuro raku chawan Mukiguri / Black Japanese matcha tea bowl by Shoraku #3178

- width: approx. 11cm (4 21⁄64in) x 10.9cm (4 19⁄64in)

- tall: approx. 8.3cm (3 17⁄64in)

- weight: 404g (gross 694g)

Sasaki Shoraku
In 1905, Shoraku's grandfather, the Nishikide decoration master Kichinosuke Sasaki, opened the Shoraku Kiln in front of the gates of Kiyomizu-dera Temple with the plan of making raku ware, only to later relocate the business to the valley of Kameoka, Kyoto. The Shoraku Kiln has taught three generations up until now. Shouaku, the second oldest son (昭楽), together with the the third oldest son (松楽), continues to make pottery while gathering research on raku ware. He is also active as the purveyor of Daitoku-ji Temple.

Raku ware
Raku ware is a type of pottery that is traditionally and primarily used in the Japanese tea ceremony, most often in the form of tea bowls called Raku chawan. In the Momoyama era (1568-1603), the first raku chawan was made by famous artist Raku Chojiro, the founder of Raku ware, after receiving orders from Sen no Rikyu, Japan's most famous Tea Ceremony artist. Rikyu also served ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In the late Momoyama era, Rikyu ordered Raku Chojiro to make kuro raku chawan. Kuro means black in Japanese. Hideyoshi disliked black, and Rikyu ordered the black bowls knowing this. It is also said that Rikyu did this because Hideyoshi was considering invading Korea at that time. Sen no rikyu was against Hideyoshi actually. Unfortunately Hideyoshi ordered Rikyu to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) for another reason. After he died, his philosophy, "wabi" lived on with the black Raku bowls. Raku ware became one of the famous Tea Ceremony bowl styles to the present day. Wabi means accepting imperfection. This is a beautiful Japanese philosophy.

Raku ware is a type of pottery that is usually made without a wheel, formed only with the hands and a spatula according to a method called "hand kneading," then fired at 750℃- 1,100℃ and softly glazed.
In reflection of the aesthetics of Sen no Rikyu and his contemporaries, its characteristics include slight distortions from hand-kneading and a thick form. They are used as tea ceremony tools, such as chawan (tea bowls), hanaire (vases), and mizusahi (lidded water pots).

Kuro-raku
Kuro means black. Initially, a bisque is made, then painted with an iron glaze made from black stones from the Kamogawa River, dried, then, after repeating the glazing process a dozen times, it is fired at 1,000℃. While the glaze melts during firing, the piece is pulled rapidly from the kiln at the moment decided by the artisan, blackening it. This technique was common among the Mino.
It began with Chojiro, firing the first Kuro-raku chawan around 1581- 1586.