茶碗 (2) - 石器, 陶瓷 - Sakura Pink & Iga Earth

Item Description
Two Japanese Matcha Bowls — A Study in Contrasts
These two hand-crafted Japanese matcha bowls (chawan) are offered together as a pair that embodies the full spectrum of Japan's extraordinary ceramic tradition. One speaks in whispers; the other roars. Together, they tell a story that neither could tell alone.
Bowl 1 — Sakura: The Color of Cherry Blossoms
Imagine holding spring in your hands. This exquisite hand-thrown matcha bowl carries the fleeting, dreamlike color of sakura — Japan's beloved cherry blossoms — in its very glaze. The soft blush pink that blooms across the exterior is not painted or artificially applied; it is born naturally in the kiln through the gentle reaction of iron within the clay, a phenomenon Japanese potters call gohon (御本手). No two bowls ever emerge from the fire with quite the same petal-soft hue, making this piece truly one of a kind.
The warm gradient — drifting from creamy white at the base to a delicate salmon-pink deepening toward the rim — evokes the inner flush of a cherry blossom just beginning to open. The interior is glazed in a rich amber tone, creating a breathtaking contrast when a bowl of freshly whisked matcha is placed inside: vivid emerald green against warm amber, framed by the palest pink. Subtle horizontal ridges left by the potter's hands wrap around the body, catching light and shadow and providing a natural, secure grip during the tea ceremony. The unglazed sandy foot ring grounds the piece in honest, earthy materiality.
Bowl 2 — Iga: Voice of the Earth
Where the first bowl offers grace, this second bowl offers raw power. In the tradition of Iga ware (Iga-yaki / 伊賀焼) — one of Japan's most ancient and celebrated ceramic lineages — the exterior presents a freely distributed pattern of muted yellow-green and olive tones spreading organically across a warm reddish-brown stoneware ground. This surface is born entirely from the unpredictable alchemy of fire, ash, and time. No two firings could ever reproduce this exact result.
Iga ware originates in Mie Prefecture and dates back to the Kamakura period. Reaching its creative peak during the Momoyama period under the influence of tea master Furuta Oribe, it came to embody the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi — the beauty of the imperfect and incomplete. The Nobel Prize-winning author Yasunari Kawabata singled out Iga ware as a supreme expression of this spirit.
A Pair Worth Owning
Spring and earth. Delicacy and strength. The transient and the eternal. These two bowls complement each other in the way that only true opposites can — each making the other more beautiful by contrast. Displayed together or used in turn through the seasons, they offer a complete and deeply personal encounter with the living art of Japanese ceramics.
Both bowls are sold without original boxes. Neither has cracks or chips.

Size
Bowl 1 — Sakura Height: 8 cm Width: 11.6 cm
Bowl 2 — Iga Height: 8.5 cm Width: 12.8 cm

Weight
Bowl 1 — Sakura: 317 g Bowl 2 — Iga: 372 g Total: 689 g

Condition
Both bowls are pre-owned and in good used condition with no boxes. The Iga-style bowl shows minor glaze loss and a small pinhole consistent with the firing process. Neither bowl has cracks or chips.

Artist Profile
Both bowls are works by unknown artists. The Sakura bowl reflects the gohon glazing tradition, in which iron within the clay reacts naturally during firing to produce its characteristic blush-pink coloration — a technique with roots in Korean Joseon-period ceramics, later adopted and refined by Japanese potters. The Iga-style bowl reflects the aesthetic vocabulary of the Iga ware tradition of Mie Prefecture, designated a traditional craft by the Japanese government, with a ceramic legacy stretching back over 1,300 years.

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