Kyo ware - Signed by 'Oketani Teiichi' - 日本茶碗 - 茶碗，油滴天目，共箱 - 石器 - 银边，油斑

Oketani Teiichi — Yuteki Tenmoku Chawan 桶谷定一 油滴天目茶碗
Turn this bowl slowly in the light and the glaze seems to answer — countless silver-flecked droplets suspended across a field of black, as though a night sky had been caught mid-fall.

Product Details
The surface is built through Yuteki Tenmoku — literally "oil-drop tenmoku" — a glaze technique in which iron-rich minerals separate and crystallize on the surface during high-temperature firing, leaving clusters of metallic, silver-grey droplets scattered across the black ground. No two firings produce the same pattern; the spotting here gathers densely toward the lower body and thins gradually as it climbs, so the bowl reads differently depending on the angle it's held. Cupped in the palm, the conical form narrows to a compact foot, giving the piece a grounded, steady weight despite its slender profile. The rim is finished with a band of silver overglaze, a refinement that frames the dark tenmoku field and lends the mouth of the bowl a quiet, cool brightness. The piece is accompanied by its tomobako, the artist's own signed storage box.

Artist Profile
桶谷定一 (Oketani Teiichi), born 1935 in Kyoto, trained within the Oketani family workshop under his father before continuing to work under the same studio name. He graduated from the ceramics department of Kyoto Fushimi Technical High School in 1955, building his practice within the Kyo ware — Kyomizuyaki — tradition: a lineage of refined pottery centred on the Kiyomizuzaka district of Kyoto, shaped over centuries by its proximity to the imperial court and the formal discipline of the tea ceremony. Oketani was recognised at the Kyoto Craft Exhibition, the Kyoto Kogei Bijutsu Exhibition, and repeatedly at the Japan Traditional Kogei Exhibition (Kinki region) and the Japan Traditional Kogei Exhibition (national), accumulating awards across a career centred on tea ceramics. He is particularly known for developing his own tenmoku glaze formulation — the iron-black glaze historically associated with Song-dynasty Chinese tea bowls — reinterpreting it through his own firing method and finishing it with the distinctive silver rim seen on this bowl.

Condition & Specifications
Condition: Excellent for age. No chips, cracks, or restoration. A small dark speck is visible on the silver overglaze rim, consistent with a natural firing characteristic rather than damage. While this is a vintage piece, it shows no other visible signs of use and retains its original appearance in outstanding condition.
Height: 6.8 cm
Width: 12.6 cm
Mouth Diameter: 11.5 cm
Weight (bowl only): 234 g
Weight (with tomobako): 503 g
Kodai: Impressed maker's seal to the foot
Accompaniments: Original tomobako (artist-signed storage box) only

About Kyoto Ware and Key Terms
What is Kyoto ware?
Kyoto ware, or Kyo-yaki, refers to ceramics produced in and around Kyoto since the 17th century, prized historically for their refinement and close association with the tea ceremony. Rather than a single unified style, it encompasses many techniques and glazes developed by generations of Kyoto potters working within the city's long courtly and religious traditions.

Tenmoku
Tenmoku describes a family of iron-rich black glazes originally developed on Chinese tea bowls during the Song dynasty and later adopted and reinterpreted by Japanese potters. The glaze can develop a range of surface effects during firing, from streaked patterns to the crystallized droplets seen here.

Yuteki
Yuteki, meaning "oil drop," describes the pattern of metallic, silver-grey spots that form across a tenmoku glaze during firing. The effect occurs when iron oxides in the glaze separate and crystallize on the surface under precise kiln conditions, and no two firings produce an identical arrangement.

Kodai
The kodai is the foot ring of a tea bowl, left unglazed to expose the clay body. It is often examined closely by collectors, as its texture, shape, and any maker's marks offer clues to a bowl's origin and authenticity.

Tomobako
A tomobako is a wooden storage box signed and sealed by the artist themselves, serving as a certificate of authenticity as well as protective storage. Its presence significantly strengthens a piece's attribution and provenance.

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