DNA

Though perhaps best known for his rare and unique yuteki-temmoku chawan, Hayashi Kyousuke is fairly versatile for a specialist. Beyond the yuteki-temmoku, Hayashi makes wonderful work in a modern take on Kuro-Oribe as well as Ki-Seto pottery, a technique learned from his master, Kato Kozo by way of Arakawa Toyozo. The illustrated Ki-seto chawan is about as traditional a chawan in form and surface as they come though the lattice of copper applied to the chawan and now blushing through the surface is very modern and purely Hayashi Kyousuke in creation. This chawan has a welcoming atmosphere, comforting and elegant in its simplicity while the texture of the glaze surface is soft and velvety adding to the calm and contemplative encounter. The chawan is finished off with a kodai that is highly complimentary to the bowl form with just a hint more texture where the crispness of the cut foot is tempered by the glaze itself. Though classic and simple, this Ki-Seto chawan shows not only restraint and a thoughtful use of materials but in its DNA are centuries of the past fused permentantly within a bowl that is perfect for tea in the 21st century.