Accession Number
1954/1.539

Title
Tea Bowl, ido chawan type

Artist(s)
Japanese

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
17th century

Medium & Support
stoneware with clear glaze

Dimensions
3 1/2 in. x 5 1/4 in. x 5 1/4 in. ( 8.9 cm x 13.3 cm x 13.3 cm )

Credit Line
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker

Label copy
During the Momoyama period (1583-1615), Japanese tea masters discovered the rustic earthenware rice bowls that were in widespread use among Korean peasant farmers. These simple bowls, along with Japanese folk items such as baskets and water basins, fit perfectly their taste for rusticity and simplicity--known as the wabi aesthetic. When many Japanese warlords, who were fervent tea practitioners themselves, went to Korea with the successive invasion attempts of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) in the 1590s, many ido chawan or "well-side tea bowls" were carried home and treasured as family heirlooms. Korean potters were also relocated to Japan as part of the spoils of war, and their descenddants at the Hagi clan kilns in western Japan continued to make wares that recall the ido type.
In the final decade of sixteenth century, Japanese forces under orders from the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, in what would be a disastrous attempt to conquer China. While there, they discovered the rustic earthenware rice bowls that were in widespread use among peasant farmers. The Japanese generals, who were all schooled in tea, recognized that these simple bowls fit perfectly the criteria for “found art” espoused by the influential tea master Sen no Rikyû. The ido chawan or “well-side tea bowls” they bought home would be treasured as family heirlooms. Korean potters were also brought to Japan as part of the spoils of war, and their descendants at the Hagi clan kilns in western Japan continued to make a ware that recalls the ido type.
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Hagi ware tea bowl, ido chawan type
Japan, Edo period
(1615–1868)
17th century
Stoneware with clear glaze
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.539
During the Momoyama period (1583–1615), Japanese tea masters discovered the rustic earthenware rice bowls that were in widespread use among Korean peasant farmers. These simple bowls, along with Japanese folk items such as baskets and water basins, fit perfectly their taste for rusticity and simplicity—known as the wabi aesthetic. When many Japanese warlords, who were fervent tea practitioners themselves, went to Korea with the successive invasion attempts of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–98) in the 1590s, many ido chawan, or “well-side tea bowls,” were carried home and treasured as family heirlooms. Korean potters were also relocated to Japan as part of the spoils of war, and their descendants at the Hagi clan kilns in western Japan continued to make wares that recall the ido type.
(6/28/10)

Subject matter
During the rise of wabi aesthetics in Momoyama period (1583-1615), Japanese tea masters discovered the rustic earthenware rice bowls that were in widespread use among Korean peasant farmers. These simple bowls fit perfectly the wabi aesthetic taste for rusticity and simplicity. When many Japanese warlords, who were fervent tea practitioners themselves, went to Korea with the invasion attempts of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) in the 1590s, many ido chawan or “well-side tea bowls” were carried home and treasured as family heirlooms. Korean potters were also relocated to Japan as part of the spoils of war, and their descendants at the Hagi clan kilns in western Japan continued to make a ware that recalls the ido type.

Physical Description
This rustic looking bowl has a circular base from which the rounded shape of the bowl extends. The clear glaze reveals the brown and black tones of the materials.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
tea bowl

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
bowls (vessels)
ceramics (object genre)