Ritual of tea drinking

Buddhist monks in China first advocated drinking tea as early as the 7th century as an aide to stay awake during long periods of study and mediation. In Japan the ritual of drinking tea became an artistic and cultural pursuit. Tea bowls in particular were essential to the way of tea (chado) and were believed to evoke complex aesthetic terms such as ‘deeply mysterious’ (yugen) and ‘well worn with age’ (wabi sabi).

In the 14th century simple tea bowls from China were highly valued. However cultivated samurai indulged their aesthetic awareness in the accoutrements (equipment) of tea drinking particularly bowls which were created in a Japanese style and featured asymmetry, uneven ash glaze, repairs and on occasion were given names.

Tea bowls from Korea in particular were highly valued and influenced the creation of tea bowls in Japan. The two tea bowls below were both created in and around Kyoto, Japan in the 17th and 18th centuries and are strikingly different. The beauty of Morning light (akebono) is appreciated in its imperfections.

The other, much darker in appearance was created by the famous family of raku potters and was most likely hand shaped (one of a kind) rather than thrown on a potter’s wheel. Raku bowls are easy to identify as they are asymmetrical, uneven and glazed in a variety of colours, and is often said to embody Japanese aesthetics. The pursuit of imperfection was first suggested by the tea master Sen no Rikyū, a famous daimyos tea instructor, who asked a tile-maker, named Chōjirō, to create hand-moulded tea bowls for use that look broken or worn know as wabi or sabi. The resulting tea bowls made by Chōjirō were initially referred to as "ima-yaki" (contemporary ware).

What is Raku?

Raku is a firing technique used in ceramics, the clay is glazed and fired at high temperatures. It is then removed from the kiln while it is still hot and placed in a flammable material (sawdust or newspaper). This causes the glaze to vary in colour.