Interview with Matthew Welch

Curator of Korean and Japanese Art

1. The name of this object refers to the Takatori style. Can you give us some background on that term?

What we call the Japanese tea ceremony began to develop in the 16th century. At that time, tea masters started to formulate procedures for properly preparing and serving tea. Two tea masters in particular, Murata Shuko and Sen Rikyu began to advocate the use of ceramics and other wares made in Japan, in addition to rare, imported Chinese pieces. In some cases, they even collected humble pots and bowls from farmers for use in their tea gatherings.

When Japan invaded Korea in 1592, and again in 1597, they captured Korean potters and brought them back to Japan. The Japanese greatly admired the informal, unpretentious character of Korean ceramics. These émigré Korean potters established kilns on the islands of Kyushu and Honshu. Several kilns in northern Kyushu were called Takatori after a nearby mountain, and the ceramics produced there by émigré Korean potters was called Takatori-ware.

2. What were the characteristics of this style?

(1) Two different glazes are visible—as is the unglazed area between them.

Tea masters prized Takatori ware for the casual effects potters achieved by using two glazes on a single vessel.(1) In the heat of the kiln, these glazes ran together, creating a subtly decorative effect. In the case of this tea bowl, the potter dipped the bowl in a wood ash glaze that resulted in the transparent caramel color on the bowl. In addition they brushed on another glaze, probably concocted from straw ash, which resulted in the opaque cream color.

3. Can you say more about this specific tea bowl?

(2) Pressed-in walls form a kutsu-gata—or "shoe shaped"— teabowl.

Well, Takatori potters sometimes purposefully pressed in the walls of their teabowls,(2) creating a misshapen form they called kutsu-gata (pronunciation: "KOO-tsoo-gah-tah"). Kutsu means shoe, and gata means shape, so this would be a shoe-shaped or clog-shaped tea bowl—named after a kind of footwear worn in ancient Japan. This surprisingly distorted shape was a favorite of the tea master Furuta Oribe in the early 17th century, and participants in the tea ceremony delighted in holding this unusual form in their hands. More importantly, this style of tea bowl demonstrates the Japanese willingness to experiment and create their own styles of tea wares, rather than relying solely on ceramics imported from China.

4. Is the bowl the center of the tea ceremony?

(3) The tea master uses a variety of utensils, but only the bowl is handled by guests.

Tea bowls really are the quintessential tea ware—the most important object in the tea ceremony—for several reasons. Of course, its primary function as the vessel in which the tea is actually served to the guests makes it vital to the ritual. But also, because guests actually hold and touch the tea bowls (3) they come to appreciate the tactile qualities and subtle effects of the clay, glaze, and decoration in a more intimate manner than other objects used in the tea ceremony.