Okay
to be perfectly honest I need to qualify the title of this post, A NEAR PERFECT
CHAWAN, what I really am saying is that this is nearly perfect in relation to
what I really enjoy from a chawan, it is personal taste based on what I can get
from this type of pot. I think I need to make another disclaimer, this is not a
chawan, it is a guinomi but as I have looked at it and studied it, rolled it
around in my hands and felt the texture of the surface and clay it is rather
apparent to me that this is a guinomi that is actually a more like a miniature
chawan. The form, lip, interior and kodai are exactly what I would want from a
chawan by the potter, Haneishi Shuji (b.1962) or anyone else for that matter
but instead of it being 13cm across it measures in at just about 7.5. As you
can see in the photo, the form is casual and has a looseness to it having a
sense of motion with a soft, undulating lip and a wet surface composed of a
layer of ash with areas of running brown green bidoro and imprints from the
shells on which it was fired. I have to admit that this haikaburi Kasama-yaki
guinomi isn't exactly a perfect chawan but it certainly makes for a great gem
of a guinomi that just begs to be taken for a thorough test drive.
( I
should also mention that this is not my first encounter with the works of
Haneishi Shuji, I have seen quite a few and handled perhaps a dozen. The last
encounter was with a kinuta-hanaire that was very simple in form and had a
subtle surface covered in a pale green natural glass coating. I am trying to
get to handle it again so that I can take a group of photos to make a slideshow
video of the vase and in turn I will make a short video slideshow of this
guinomi in the future.)
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