Hayefune tea bowl, Chojiro, c. 1590 A.D.
This hand moulded clay bowl is one of thousands of Chojiro’s tea sets. Working alongside the tea master Rikyū, the bowl exemplifies Zen Buddhism’s influence on the tea ceremony, from the large cracks throughout the bowl, repaired with a dark lacquer, and the scorch mark from the incredibly high temperatures of Chojiro’s kiln, we see a distinct awareness and appreciation for the inadequate and the aged. Taking a step away from the precursory Pureland Buddhism, Japanese Zen Buddhism formulates a grounded nature as elements of the Indigenous Shintoism become more influential. Nature, insufficiency, imperfection, and external factors (causing error) are praised within the tea ceremony as participants are encouraged to contemplate within themselves - and objects demonstrating damage or age can assist said contemplation - “what did this bowl (or other object) look like before breaking?” “How did this break occur?” Many of Chojiro’s pottery was glazed with local river pebbles (cf. atmospheric glazing), however this bowl merely maintains its bare terracotta form. The colours of the bowl compliment the green tea within, allowing the beholder to gaze into it, and further into himself.
