I have been very fortunate to have seen a number of
potters, both Western and Eastern make teabowl and in doing so also trim or cut
a foot in to their pieces. I have been very surprised over the years that when
watching potters make Japanese chawan or Japanese inspired teabowls, the
approaches are very similar; the use of a single tool and the slow rotation on
a banding wheel of sorts. I am certainly not saying that the methods are
identical but it is usually only the subtle, attentive details that set apart
potters and their feet from one another. Watching potters like Suzuki Goro,
Tsujimura Shiro, Kohyama Yasuhisa, Matsuzaki Ken, Suzuki Osamu and others, the
formula seems to be the same with just enough idiosyncratic input to
differentiate the works of potters dedicated to making chawan. There are of
course, exceptions, some extreme when watching potters like Kakurezaki Ryuichi
and Kato Tsubusa cut their kodai, but all in all the basic purpose and
qualities are necessary to complete the teabowls, so only the individual
nuances seperate kodai from potter to potter. I don't want to give the
impression that if you've seen one, you've seen them all as each potter creates
a kodai from the blank canvas of his piece which is revealed through well
practiced cuts, removing clay and blending the positive and negative space that
best supports their vision of the chawan.
The accompanying photo is of the kodai celadon
specialist, Kato Tsubusa. Cut and almost hacked out of the porcelain he works with, this is one of the extremes in
the dealing with a kodai. As you study the foot, it may look simple in the
execution but I would suggest trying it before making any sound judgements. On
second thought, best to try several thousand first.
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