CONVERSATION & CUP OF TEA

After having a chance to study and converse with this yohen-temmoku chawan I spent some time trying to answer a rather specific question, have I ever seen a Kimura Morikazu chawan that I didn't like? This chawan has a rather seductive yet simple form that acts as the perfect canvas for this inviting surface composed of varying layers and colors like the fabled feather cloak of Japanese mythology. Kimura Morikazu (b.1922), originally worked in Kyoto but moved to Echizen Prefecture (1976) where he continued to specialize in iron, temmoku and yuteki glazes, his career really took off in 1947 as he was chosen to exhibit at a major art exhibition and since that time he has spent a life time dedicated to the pursuit of Chinese style iron glazes of which this yohen-temmoku is a nice example. This chawan underwent the ferocity of being wood fired which adds a slightly different quality to the glaze and exposed clay, something that is lacking on most more modern yuteki and yohen style iron glazed pots. What I really get from this chawan is the deliberateness and purpose of the creation, glazing and firing of the piece written across the form and surface making for a timeless aesthetic that is appreciated as much today as the day it was made.

"Silence is one of the great arts of conversation."  Marcus Tullius Cicero