IMPRIMO

Of very simple design, execution and glazing, adroitly thrown and a constant reminder of what it is that makes Kawai school mingei work both popular and significant, this chawan was made by Kawai Takeichi (Bu'ichi). Using a slightly coarse clay as seen in the rough quality around the foot there is a texture created by a piece of chamois dragged on the surface while still throwing the wet clay, the impressed design was added a bit later using a turning roulette creating this effective and tactile decoration. For Kawai Kanjiro and his students and followers, the pots were kept simple, the superfluous is both unnecessary and unwanted, the "beauty born of use" a motto that helped create these pots where it is more about form and function than the concept of beauty for beauty's sake and Kawai Takeichi has left quite a body of work that typifies these qualities. Once decorated this chawan was glazed over in a single ame-yu, amber glaze which highlights the piece and allows the various throwing effects and tooling to show through giving the user an understanding of how the pot was made. I am a huge fan of pots like these; stripped of ego, purposeful, functional and certainly without pretense, this chawan could have been made in 1780 or 1980 with only the box and bio to tell us otherwise.