MORE GOLDEN BROWN

I put up a post some while back on Iga potter Atarashi Manabu, part of the younger group working within the Iga tradition while at the same time working to expand the definition of the style. The previous chawan was more modern, experimental to a degree and not what one would think of as conventional, this evocative golden-brown chawan on the other hand is a far more traditional approach to the style and fits the boundaries of chadogu much more easily. The form of this Iga chawan is classically proportioned and fits well in the hands with a comfortable uneven-ness to the lip and a simple yet well conceived kodai and mikomi but the surface is that wonderful amalgam of ferocity, movement and frozen in the moment ash that brings the bowl to life and pleases those senses it directly interacts with.   

Fired at an angle on its side the ash built up on the bowl, turned to liquid in the promethean furnace and ran across the surface at a diagonal ultimately intersecting and concluding in rich, deep brown-green bidoro drips that have dodged the shells that propped up the bowl and have permanently scarred the surface. This is a rather enjoyable chawan with hints of tradition and modernism colliding in a chawan that is filled with character and enthusiasm, a bowl that seems to understand it doesn't have to be taken so seriously to be appreciated, enjoyed and used.