Shipping method — The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by DHL or FedEx depend on the situation. It takes about 3 weeks to receive normally. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Sometimes Customs or delivery company in your country contact you for Customs clearance via phone or email. Please make sure that you could answer the phone. If you don't, the parcel will return to me and it cost more double shipping fee for reshipping. I appreciate your cooperation. Item Description Shipping method — The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by DHL or FedEx depend on the situation. It takes about 3 weeks to receive normally. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Sometimes Customs or delivery company in your country contact you for Customs clearance via phone or email. Please make sure that you could answer the phone. If you don't, the parcel will return to me and it cost more double shipping fee for reshipping. I appreciate your cooperation. This beautiful flat matcha tea bowl (hira-chawan) is a fine work by 坂本明山 Sakamoto Meizan, a potter of the Onta Ware (小鹿田焼 — Ontayaki) tradition, produced in the remote mountain village of Sarayama, Hita City, Oita Prefecture — one of Japan's most celebrated and historically protected folk ceramics communities. The bowl displays a wide, open flat form characteristic of the hira-chawan style, favored in tea ceremony for summer use as the broad opening allows the tea to cool more readily, presenting a pleasing horizontal surface to the eye. The glaze work is exceptional: a rich dark iron-black base glaze covers the body, with dramatic pools of creamy white glaze flowing around the upper body and rim in a style evocative of the classic natural ash-glaze pooling seen in traditional noborigama wood-firing. The interior surface reveals a remarkable pattern of dense, finely scattered golden-brown iron speckles distributed uniformly from the center to the rim, creating a visual effect reminiscent of a night sky or the surface of still water. The depth and richness of layered glazes — black, white, and golden — give the piece an almost landscape-like visual complexity of great beauty. The foot ring (kōdai) is left in natural unglazed stoneware clay, with a maker's seal impressed into the outer rim. The bottom of the foot shows a small natural splash of fired glaze — not a defect, but a testament to the authentic wood-fired noborigama (climbing kiln) process used at Sarayama. The piece comes in its original wooden presentation box (tomobako) with the maker's inscription. Onta Ware has been produced in the small mountain hamlet of Sarayama in Hita City, Oita Prefecture since around 1705, when the local domain commissioned a kiln to supply daily pottery for the region. Wikipedia The craft tradition is passed down in strict succession from parent to child — ichishi sōden — meaning only kilns descended from the founding families are permitted to produce it. Wikipedia The Sakamoto family is one of the three founding families of Onta Ware, alongside the Kuroki and Yanase families, having provided the land on which the original kiln was established. Dentsu The production techniques — including tobikanna (chisel-carved patterns), hakeme (brush-mark slip), and nagashigake (flowing glaze pour) — were designated a National Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1995. My Message Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my item. I run a recycle shop in Japan, and I joined Catawiki because I want to share wonderful items filled with Japanese craftsmanship and history with people all around the world. If you have any questions about the item, please feel free to message me anytime. With gratitude — ARIGATO Shipping method — The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by DHL or FedEx depend on the situation. It takes about 3 weeks to receive normally. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Sometimes Customs or delivery company in your country contact you for Customs clearance via phone or email. Please make sure that you could answer the phone. If you don't, the parcel will return to me and it cost more double shipping fee for reshipping. I appreciate your cooperation. Size Height: 6 cm Width (diameter): 13 cm Weight 519 g (with box) Condition Excellent condition with no prominent damage or scratches; a small natural glaze splash on the base of the foot ring occurred during kiln firing — this is not a defect but a natural characteristic of authentic wood-fired Onta Ware. Artist Profile 坂本明山 Sakamoto Meizan — Onta Ware (小鹿田焼), Sarayama, Hita City, Oita Prefecture Sakamoto Meizan belongs to the Sakamoto family lineage, one of the three founding families of Onta Ware, whose involvement dates to the very establishment of the Sarayama kiln in the early 18th century. The Onta Ware craft tradition is strictly hereditary: each kiln passes its techniques from parent to eldest child only, with no outside apprentices permitted — a system that has preserved the original pottery methods in near-pristine condition for over 300 years. Wikipedia The folk craft philosopher Yanagi Sōetsu visited Sarayama in 1931 and famously declared Onta Ware "the world's greatest folk pottery," bringing it to national and international attention through his writings on mingei (folk art). Japanesecrafts British ceramicist Bernard Leach, a central figure of the international crafts movement and close associate of Yanagi, stayed at Sarayama in 1954 and again in 1964 to study and make pottery, further spreading the fame of Onta Ware internationally. Wikipedia Catawiki 出品項目 項目入力内容Title of ArtworkSakamoto Meizan — Onta Ware Flat Tea Bowl (Hira-Chawan), Iron Black & White Glaze, National Intangible Cultural Property Tradition, with TomobakoArtist / Maker坂本明山 Sakamoto Meizan (小鹿田焼 Onta Ware)CategoryJapanese Antiques > Ceramics > Tea Ceremony > Tea Bowls (Chawan)Country of OriginJapanPeriod / YearShowa–Heisei period (20th century), estimatedMaterialStoneware, iron glaze, ash glaze, wood-fired noborigama kilnConditionGood condition — no damage; natural kiln glaze splash on foot baseHeight6 cmWidth13 cmDiameter13 cm