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Tamba-yaki is a style of high-fired, unglazed
pottery originating more than 800 years ago in a remote and
mountainous region west of Kyoto in Hyogo prefecture. During the
Edo era (1600-1868), Tamba tea bowls were used extensively by tea
ceremony practitioners who appreciated their simple, austere beauty.
Because Tamba-yaki is unadorned and free of decorative elements, its
beauty derives solely from the character of the clay, also known as
its "flavor", and how kiln dynamics are rendered upon it.
This very large (dai) and rotund green tea pot was fired three consecutive
times at Tenkū-gama - the wood burning
noborigama climbing kiln tended by ceramic artist Nagai Ken. At 1,250°C
(2,300°F) degrees, it was blasted with wave after wave of red pine
embers, each one adding another layer of color and texture - like
painters in a collaborative work. What finally arose from the
ashes is a true masterpiece of pottery, blessed with the kind of
incidental details which cannot be reproduced: ocher speckles,
subtle heat change gradations and rich streams of chocolate brown.
The set includes five matching cups single-fired in the same technique. The
interior of the pot has a built-in sieve porous enough to allow small bits of
green tea leaf to flow through - a timeless custom among tea drinkers
in Japan. Its total serving capacity is 1,800 ml (60 oz), which is
enough to fill each cup several times.
Functional as well as beautiful, the set is ideal for tea parties and
promises to attract quite a lot of attention from envious guests.
A wooden presentation box will be custom made to order and signed by
the artist. Delivery time for this item is 2 weeks.
See Nagai Ken's Osaka Exhibition
for more works from his 2010 collection.
special care instructions
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