9 Items in this Learning Collection

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Red Raku ware shallow tea bowl

Accession Number
1954/1.536

Title
Red Raku ware shallow tea bowl

Artist(s)
Japanese

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
19th century

Medium & Support
earthenware with red glaze

Dimensions
2 1/2 in. x 5 1/2 in. ( 6.4 cm x 14 cm )

Credit Line
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker

Label copy
Since the late sixteenth century, red has competed with black as a favored color for Raku ware tea bowls. Red Raku bowls come in an astonishingly wide range of colors, from a rusty orange to a pale pink. They are made with a clear glaze over red slip (thin, watery clay). The term Raku in Japanese pottery can refer either to a lineage of makers or to a style: here it probably indicates the style rather than the maker of the bowl. Similarities to pottery made in western Japan suggest that this bowl may come from a workshop in the Hagi or KAratsu area. The bowl demonstrates the wide appeal of the Raku technique to tea practitioners of late Edo-period Japan.
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Raku ware shallow tea bowl
Japan, Edo period
(1615–1868)
19th century
Earthenware with red glaze
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.536
Since the late sixteenth century, red has competed with black as a favored color for Raku ware tea bowls. Red Raku bowls come in an astonishingly wide range of colors, from a rusty orange to a pale pink. They are made with a clear glaze over red slip (thin, watery clay). The term Raku in Japanese pottery can refer either to a lineage of makers or to a style: here it probably indicates the style rather than the maker of the bowl. Similarities to pottery made in western Japan suggest that this bowl may come from a workshop in the Hagi or Karatsu area. The bowl demonstrates the wide appeal of the Raku technique to tea practitioners of late Edo-period Japan.
(6/28/10)
Box inscription: "hira aka chawan" (shallow red tea bowl). Raku seal needs further research.

Subject matter
Since the late sixteenth century, red has competed with black as a favored color for teabowls. Red bowls come in an astonishingly wide range of colors, from a rusty orange to a pale pink. They are made with a clear glaze over red slip (thin, watery clay). Although this bowl bears a seal reading “raku,” here it probably indicates the style rather than the maker of the bowl. Similarities to pottery made in western Japan suggest that this bowl may come from a workshop in the Hagi or Karatsu area. The bowl demonstrates the wide appeal of the Raku technique to tea practitioners of late Edo-period Japan.

Physical Description
This squat bowl is not smooth but has subtle irregularities in texture and shape, intentionally highlighted by the brilliant red glaze.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
tea bowl

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
bowls (vessels)
ceramics (object genre)
red-gloss (pottery style)

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