Like many pottery traditions in Japan, Karatsu takes its name from the city where it originated. As early as the 15th century, Korean potters heavily influenced the development of this form—helping to endow it with the earthy, simple, and natural qualities it is so appreciated for. With crackled glazing and beautiful gold repairs of several types and from several generations, this antique tea bowl is quite attractive, a pleasure to use, and absolutely one of a kind...

This exceptionally well-formed tea bowl displays highlights of flaxen and scarlet visible through a classic black glaze. Raku tea bowls such as this are made by hand, without the use of a potter's wheel. In the process of shaping the bowls, potters handle the tea bowls in much the same manner that users will hold them as they drink from them. In this manner, a connection is formed between the creator of the tea bowl and the participants in the tea ceremony...

Oribe is a visual style named after the late-16th-century tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615). Typically, black or green glazes are applied to the bodies of these works and light-colored windows are created using feldspar. These high-contrast areas then act as a canvas upon which abstract, minimalistic, and often naturalistic themes are painted.

This piece is quite unique for its brown color which may have been produced using a copper glaze under very specific conditions...

Old (1920's) Japanese Cast Iron Kettle Tetsubin Signed Ryubundou (KINRYU-DO)

It is 9.6 inches (24.5 cm) tall with handle up and 6.25 inches (16 cm) tall with handle down by 7.55 inches (19.2 cm) wide. It is 5.6 Lb.

It has rust, loss patina, surface wears and scratches (as seen in the photos).

Our Guarantee: We stand behind all of the items that we sell...

A tall, cylindrical shape bronze vase by Nakajima Yasumi II (1905-1986). Patinated dark reddish - brown bronze. Vase ornamented with horizontal bands raised in relief and flaring out at the waist and sloping inward to the shoulder. Wood box inscribed on the outside of the lid and signed and sealed on the inside. Vase signed at the bottom: Yasumi. H. 28.5 cm. Showa period. *** Nakajima Yasumi II (1905-1986) was a very well known Osaka bronze artist who's real name is Nakajima Mitsuo...

The colors seen in this ceramic piece are not often encountered in the world of Japanese tea-ware pottery—a field dominated mainly by styles such as Raku, Hagi, and other traditions with relatively conservative and predictable color schemes. The aquamarine blue is rather striking, reminiscent of coral encountered in the pristine waters of tropical and remote destinations...

A great example of a modern Shino tea bowl based on pieces being produced nearly 500 years ago in the kilns of Mino. This piece shows excellent texture to the glaze with a very active and diverse ceramic landscape. In addition, the use of a darker ferrous compound gives it a rather weighty and seasoned appearance when compared with the more commonly encountered red Shino glazes of the modern day...

We continue our presentation of Ohi chawan (Ohi tea bowls) with yet another sublime vessel, a true eye-catcher made at the end of the Meiji Period around 1910. It's a unique Ohi Chawan which seems to be a kuro Raku bowl, but it isn't. With its sophisticated shape and its mesmerizing play of predator pattern inside its outstanding.

Ohi ware is indeed closely related to Raku; the first Ohi potter was the son of Raku III, Donyu, and apprenticed to the fourth Raku master, Ichinyu...

A real piece of art: Shino-Oribe Tea Bowl from the early Edo Period (around 1620, early 17th century). It is a shoe shaped Kutsugata Chawan covered with a whitish Shino-Oribe glaze over an iron oxide engobe in two quarter sections, where a triangle has been scratched into the dark engobe. The other two opposite quarters show a decoration of two squares in the style of mimasu - three squares.

The roughly cut foot ring and its surrounding show the typical little refined Mino clay...

The artist who produced this piece, Wataru Motomura, prides himself in living a traditional life in the eastern hills of Kyoto—long known for its rich clay and idyllic pastoral lands. Though the form of this vessel appears innovative and playful, the techniques and materials used to produce it have been around for many hundreds of years...

Meiji (1868-1912) Japanese Bronze Articulated Crab

It is 2.2 inches (5.5 cm) tall by 6.8 inches (17.3 cm) wide. It is 743 gram (1.6 Lb).

It has oxidation and surface wears and scratches (as seen in the photos).

Our Guarantee: We stand behind all of the items that we sell. That is to say, if you purchase an item from us and are unhappy with it for any reason, return it for a 100% refund of the amount you originally paid...

The size of Tea Cup: 3 1/8" Dia x 2 1/4" High...

A magnificent Kuro Oribe Chawan of larger size and wonderful shape, made during the end of the Edo period (1615-1868). This kind of shoe-shaped bowl is called kutsu-chawan. It is a design often found in Oribe ware, which presents some of the most free forms and decorations in the world of tea potteries.

The bowl is in great condition, considered its age. It will be shipped in a high class and fitted wooden box.

Size: 7,3 cm hight x 14 cm in diameter.

Free shipping...

Mountain tea bowls (yama-jawan) are commonly excavated from the hillsides of Japan and many date to the 12th century or earlier. They tend to be crude in construction but with a fascinating ruggedness that allows then to endure, often much better than contemporary ceramics, despite being buried in the earth for hundreds of years. Highly prized when found completely intact or with minor cracks, there is a sort of folklore and mystique that has built up around these objects. The pieces shown here ...

Simple yet classic styling—this tea bowl is perfect for anyone looking for the quintessential Ido-shaped chawan crafted by one of Japan’s master Hagi potters.

Born in the famed pottery town of Karatsu in 1942, Zenzo Hatano spent a number of years learning the various styles particular to his region before taking up an apprenticeship under well-known Hagi potter Yoshiga Taibi. Winner of a number of awards including the Japan Crafts Exhibition Award in 1977, Hatano’s greatest d...

In Japan every season and every phase of the year is marked by the presence of a flower, the most noted of course being the cherry blossoms signifying the long-awaited arrival of spring. Lesser known to the outside world is the importance of the iris flower marking the end of spring and the beginning of the summer months. Growing along river banks and in other wetland, the iris is thought to have purifying properties to ward off evil and is also associated with the expression of heroic deeds. Th...

Japanese lacquer kogo incense container in Korin-style with rabbits gazing at the moon. One rabbit made of quail egg mosaic and the other of silvered lacquer sitting in the reeds. Square shaped container with mitered corners. Top with silvered moon. Tomobako with typed old labeling.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)
Size: 2 1/4"H x 1 5/8"W x 1 5/8"D

Not so often in the world of Japanese tea-ware do you come across something so exquisitely novel that it resists categorization in terms traditional styles. This tea bowl by young artist Suzuki Taku is one such piece with a unique glazing technique known as “kuro-sabi,” which roughly translates into English as “black oxidation coloring.” Utilizing a process where sections of the copper glazed vessel are treated with sulfuric acid, the result is a dazzling and varied palette of rich metal...