This is a vintage Japanese pottery tea bowl of Hagi ware, which was made by the great potter, the 14th Shinbei Sakakura (1917-1975) about 60 years ago. The glaze has a variaton of light red and grayish colors, intermitted by golden lines of the kintsugi.

He was one of the greatest potters of Hagi ware, who was identified as an important human cultural treasure of Yamaguchi prefecutre, Japan in 1972.

The seal of the potter is stamped on the bottom...

Cylinder shaped (hanzutsu) tea bowl made of light, fine, unrefined Mino clay. Shape and style (note the trimmed walls) make it appear contemporary with the late Oribe bowls.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical white, feldspatic Shino glaze has been poured under which a decoration of a willow tree (yanagi) and a fence have been applied in iron oxide (oni ita). Just the foot ring and its immediate surrounding was left unglazed...

Cylinder shaped (hanzutsu) tea bowl made of light, fine, unrefined Mino clay from the late Momoyama or early Edo period. Shape and style (note the trimmed walls) make it appear contemporary with the late Oribe bowls. The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical white, feldspatic Shino glaze which has been poured and under which a decoration of a bamboo grass (sass) and a fence have been applied in iron oxide (oni ita)...

Little distorted half cylinder shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical, glossy black iron oxide glaze inside and outside. A 'window' on the side has been left unglazed for decoration in iron oxide engobe under a clear ash glaze in the form of plum blossoms (ume) and a geometric design. This is a typical Momoyama design...

Elegant, little distorted half cylinder shaped kutsugata tea bowl with flaring lip made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical, glossy black iron oxide glaze inside and outside, leaving an unglazed 'window' on one side.

One 'window' is decorated with circles squares and lines in iron oxide glaze which has been covered with a clear ash and feldspar glaze...

Very beautiful Kuro Oribe Chawan of early Edo period:

Only very little distorted half cylinder shaped (hanzutsu) tea bowl made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical, glossy black iron oxide glaze inside and outside, leaving an unglazed 'window' on one side. The 'window' is decorated with chidori (plovers) flying over an irrigation wheelin iron oxide glaze which has then been covered with a clear ash and feldspar glaze...

Little distorted half cylinder shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl - made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical, glossy black iron oxide glaze inside and outside, leaving 2 unglazed 'windows' on opposite sites. One 'window' is decorated with ivy or vine leaves. The other 'window' shows flying birds in iron oxide glaze which has been covered with a clear ash and feldspar glaze. This is a typical Momoyama Era design...

Distorted half cylinder shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl made of little iron bearing, coarse, unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body, trimmed with a potters knife (hera) is covered with the typical, glossy black iron oxide inside and outside. Here it is a rarely seen dark brown due to a lack of manganese.

A window on the side has been left unglazed for decoration in iron oxide engobe under a clear ash glaze in a form of straight and wavy lines. This is a typical Momoyama design...

Little distorted half cylinder shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl with flaring mouth made of light, coarse unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body was covered with the typical green copper oxide glaze inside and outside. A 'window' on the side has been left unglazed and is decorated with fern sprouts. This is a typical late Momoyama design, which seems to represent winter and summer. You can find a black Oribe bowl with a similar design in the Nezu Museum...

Rounded wan-shaped chawan with strong throwing (finger) marks, called rokuro-me. The light, very fine clay with enclosures is expertly thrown. The body is fully glazed - with the exception of the foot and its surrounding area.

The cream coloured glaze shows pink colour in some paces as we know it from Korean Gohon tea bowls. It shows discolouration from green tea and a beautiful crazing - especially on inside, a sign of many years of careful use...

Wonderful and definitely rare Iga Chawan with aesthetic kintsugi gold repair. This chawan was made approx. 200 years ago during the Edo Period. Great wabi-sabi expression.

Iga ware was always made in the Iga City area of Mie Prefecture. Using local clay and traditional techniques, Iga ware carries a rich tradition that can be traced back to the Nara Period (710-794), featuring easy-to-hold shapes prized by tea masters and a natural, almost wild beauty actualized by the unique qualit...

What a wonderful glaze. Slightly distorted shoe shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl from the early Edo period with a rounded brim, made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body was trimmed with a potter's knife in its lower part around the foot ring.

In the style of Kuro-Oribe bowls this bowl was covered with a brown iron oxide glaze. A window on the side was left unglazed and split in two halves - one was decorated with iron oxide engobe which was decorated with inc...

A historic-cultural highlight: we proudly present a more than 1000 year old Yama Chawan with a strong kai-yu glaze. Once in a while you can find a traditional unglazed yama chawan on the antique market, but a Yama Chawan with a strong and vivid kai-yu glaze is very very rare. The Yama-Chawan is an excavated piece, stacked together with a second one for the firing process.

At the beginning of the 9th century, ceramics that use cooking at very high temperatures (about 1240 degrees) an...

Another wonderful example of the beauty of Shino-yaki from the early Edo Period: Little deformed cylinder (hazutsu) shaped, in the style of shino ware - the bowl shows finger marks from throwing; foot ring and bottom have been cut with a potters knife. Typical for a Nezumi-Shino shino bowl, the light, unrefined Mino clay has been covered with an iron bearing engobe - with the exception of the bottom area.

A floral decoration on the wall and a circle inside near the brim has been i...