Friday, December 7, 2012

NOT THIS ONE, THE OTHER ONE

When one thinks of Raku, one immediately thinks of the Raku family dynasty, founded by Chojiro along with Hon'ami Koetsu. In general however, after the time of Chojiro and Koetsu, it is mostly the mainline Raku family that comes to mind when thinking about Raku chadogu. The Hon'ami side of the creative process is usually overlooked and the family is thought of as sword experts/appraissers and sword polishers, however, over the centuries, the Hon'ami have continued to create pottery right through to the modern day. Illustrated is a Aka-Raku chawan of fine rounded form with exceptional areas of black carburization about the surface, interior and on the foot ring. This chawan was made by Hon'ami Sokyu, a direct descendant of Hon'ami Koetsu who is making tea ware in the traditional tebinari (hand molded) method as passed down from master to pupil over the centuries. In many respects it has more in common with the fuedal days of the Edo Period than it does with modern times, but after all, that what good Raku should strive for.
For more pictures of this chawan along with a recently added Shimaoka Tatsuzo plate, please go to my Trocadero website where I am also running a 25% off sale on pottery that I make;