WARI-KODAI

Over the years I have concluded that I can easily run hot or cold on wari-kodai preferring a more "conservative" foot ring is more my comfort zone not to mention the aesthetic that I prefer. I have seen a number of chawan with excellent wari-kodai, especially the works of Tsujimura Shiro, Miwa Kyusetsu XI and Hayashi Shotaro but for me to be fully invested in this style, the execution, and proportions have to be just perfect and sync seamlessly with the bowl form. Illustrated is a chawan I recently handled by Enomoto Kyousuke and as you can see from the photo the proportions and relationship to the bowl are almost spot on and the way the kodai is cut and articulated bring some movement to an otherwise static pedestal.

Perhaps what I enjoy most is that Enomoto tooled or carved out a slight basin like depression at the center of the foot prior to cutting it which ends up having the bowl rest on the edges of each articulated quarter. I really liked this touch and it changes the posture of the bowl and when looking at the chawan seated on a shelf or other flat surface it allows for a less heavy feeling and is really quite noticeable when handling the bowl and resting it in the hand. I know I drone on about attention to details way to often but what would anything hand or machine made be if the whole was not an amalgam of considered details, like all the atoms in any particular molecule.

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." John Wooden