A Red Raku Tea Bowl by Tamamizu III - Nindosai (d.o.b. unknown -1763)
- Artist:
- Tamamizu III - Nindosai (d.o.b. unknown -1763)
- Era:
- Mid Edo
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Over the years we have taken a special interest in Raku-ware and especially in works produced by the Tamamizu kiln, such as the 275+ year old ceremonial tea bowl seen here. The first in this line of potters was Yahē (1662 - 1722), an illegitimate son of Kichizaemon Ichinyu (1615 - 1768) who studied under his father and then left to open his own kiln in the village of Tamamizu (known today as Ide-cho). Though he is the first potter of this branch, he is sometimes referred to as Tamamizu VI, denoting his connection to and descendance from the main Raku line. After establishing the kiln, Yahē took the artist’s name “Ichigen” and proceeded to fashion extremely high-quality tea bowls and other implements in the style of the earliest Raku potters. Eventually the line died out in Meiji, making these tea bowls all the more rare and worthy of preservation.
A book containing secret techniques used by the kiln has been handed down to each successive generation since the age of Dō’nyū. Unlike the main Raku line—that to a certain extent allows each generation of potter to follow their own aesthetic sense—Tamamizu potters stayed true to the original forms set out by Chōjirō, Dō’nyū, and Kōetsu. The line of Tamamizu potters continued up to early Meiji with the death of Tamamizu 14. However, a recent attempt was made to revive the kiln by a descendent (later dubbed Tamamizu 15) who spent his life collecting Tamamizu-ware from earlier potters, researching the techniques used by studying old manuscripts, and training with main-line Raku potters. Despite these efforts, there remain many historical gaps in our collective knowledge of the kiln and of the individual potters themselves. Only within recent years has the Raku Household Museum recognized the contributions of this line, putting out a publication dedicated to their works and officially including them as an important historical branch kiln.
The potter of this piece, second son to Raku Ichigen (1662-1722), Nindosai produced Raku-ware in the style of early Raku potters such as Chojiro and Koetsu. In fact, the piece here is what is known as a “tribute piece,” made to emulate a famous tea bowl created by Chojiro which was presented to the famous tea-master Sen no Rikyu. So much was this style appreciated by Rikyu that he gave it a name "Kimamori" (Guardian of the Forest) and included it in his 7 most prized tea bowls. The original was held by several prominent Japanese families until its destruction in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
A beautifully crafted and remarkable example of Edo period Raku pottery, this tea bowl is 4.75 inches in diameter (12 cm) and stands 2.75 inches tall (7 cm). It comes in its well-preserved original box signed and sealed by the potter and with an antique patterned wrapping cloth. For people who like the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi, this piece is ideal, showing graceful aging, quiet elegance, and a grounded presence. As can be seen in the images, there are several fissures, likely originating in the kiln and not as part of the aging process. We considered gold repairs for these for preservation purposes but felt there was no issue posed to its longevity and that it was more visually appealing in its current form. However, should the buyer desire, we can arrange expert repairs by one of the top kintsugi artists in Kyoto. For more information on Tamamizu-yaki and how it relates to the 450 year history of Raku pottery, have a look at the Raku Museum official web page here: https://www.raku-yaki.or.jp/e/history/genealogy.html.
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