Attributed to Seisai
Tea Bowl (Cha-wan), Kurobotan (Black Peony), 19th century
Ceramic with black raku glaze, 7.3 x 12.1 cm (2 7/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
This simple, short, handmade ceramic tea bowl is glazed with a black finish on both the interior and exterior. It has a low-gloss finish and is dappled everywhere with small, irregular imperfections. It is round, handleless, and the bowl tapers slightly at the bottom. It is slightly less than 5 inches in diameter and less than 3 inches tall. The tea bowl is part of a set of unmatching 19thC Japanese tea ceremony pieces.
Chinese Room
Commentary
This bowl was made at one of many kilns in Kyoto making Raku-style tea bowls by the 19th century, using printed handbooks that explained technology. Seisai has not been identified with certainty, although the name was used by the Kyoto potter Kiyomizu Rokubei II (1790-1869), who is known to have made Raku-style bowls, between 1811 and 1845/6.
Source: Louise Allison Cort, "Mrs. Gardner's 'Set of Tea-Things,'" in Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia, edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 396.
Source: Louise Allison Cort, "Mrs. Gardner's 'Set of Tea-Things,'" in Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia, edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 396.