Korea, Choson period (17th century)

Details

An Irabo Chawan [Tea Bowl]
Korea, Choson period (17th century)
The conical bowl with gently flaring rim on everted ring foot and recessed base, the reddish-brown body covered in a yellow glaze of ash and ironbearing clay, the exterior decorated in kugibori [nail carving] in a spiral, the interior with a brush spiral and four spur marks, with shifuku [carrying pouch] and two fitted woodboxes, the first with an old label inscribed Ko-Irabo chawan [old Irabo teabowl] to the cover and another old label to the reverse of the cover inscribed Yamauba, Michimori, Higaki, Fuji daiko, Oshio, jugo, the 15th Noh song from the collection of Yamamoto Chobe comprised in the early Edo period
14.3cm. diam.

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Lot Essay

Irabo teabowls were made to order for Japanese tea masters beginning in the early 17th century. Japanese collectors admired the rustic quality of the surface imperfections. This type of bowl is characterised by a coarse, stone texture and ochre-coloured glaze. Bowls of this type were replicated at various kilns in Japan, including the Karatsu kiln in northern Kyushu and the Rakuzan kiln in Matsue.

For similar examples in the former Manno Collection, Osaka, and the Seikado Bunko, Tokyo, see:
Oda Eiichi, ed., Korai jawan [Korean teabowls], vol. 2 of Chadogu no sekai [The world of utensils for the way of tea], (Kyoto, 1999), p. 114-15.

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