Given
all the noise and bells and whistles everywhere you go or look, coming home to
your selected environment, your personal space it is rewarding and comforting
to be greeted by simple yet profound objects. This simple, timeless chawan
resonates with tradition, antiquity and existing in the moment, all features that
I enjoy in a pot or any other object for that matter. Made by Nishibata Daibi
(1976-2010), son of the master veteran Tamba potter Nishibata Tadashi, this
simple wood fired hakeme chawan is surely based on earlier archetypes infused
with hints of modern personality in form, surface and firing. There is a sense
of grace and movement that is both real and implied with the motion and
application of the thick, crackled hakeme slip and the soft and subtle rolling
of the lip which are concretely anchored in the sturdy kodai which is further
enhanced with a boldly cut notched foot adding more depth to the bowl. Though simple
at first glance I am reminded of the quip that life is quite simple but we
insist on making it complicated and despite of all of the complicated, complex
thoughts that go into the creation of a good chawan it is quite evident that
this gone long before his time talent was quite well versed in keeping it quite
simple, at least in appearance.
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