Show Off Your Pots and Cups XII

[Chip]

Thanks for sharing Victoria, Ginkgo, and IPT. Lovely wares!

[Janine]

Thanks for sharing Victoria, Ginkgo, and IPT. Lovely wares!

+1 truly lovely and interesting too

[IPT]

This is a Ming Dynasty Blue and White tea cup I recently acquired.

I was scrolling through different posts and accidentally came to this. Forgive me if this has been asked (I didn't look at the whole thread)... but what is the design? It almost looks like a squid.

Regarding your teapot IPT, it really looks like it needs a dark tea, as you mention you use it for in the other topic (yixing red). Looks very reliable... imagine it makes a full-bodied tea

It does look like an squid. I never noticed that. It is a basket with flowing ribbons.

The teapot makes great Yixing Red Tea. That's all I use it for. I experimented with a few different teas, but found that the Yixing Red is the perfect tea for that particular pot.

Victoria, that is a food dog on the lid.

[TokyoB]

food dog?

[TIM]

food dog?

Foo dog = Lucky dog

[IPT]

Haha! Sorry about that. Yes, it is Foo Dog. Actually, in China, they are called lions. Their history goes back many centuries. They were originally made for the emperors' palaces and temples that had gained imperial favor. The emperor, I forget now which one, heard that lions were ferocious beasts and so he had is sculptors make him a pair, but they had never actually seen one, so they created a pair based on descriptions of the animal. That was the beginning of them. They became popular and were eventually used by officials and royal family members. You can always tell the rank of the official by the number of rows of buns on the lion's manes.

[Tead Off]

Haha! Sorry about that. Yes, it is Foo Dog. Actually, in China, they are called lions. Their history goes back many centuries. They were originally made for the emperors' palaces and temples that had gained imperial favor. The emperor, I forget now which one, heard that lions were ferocious beasts and so he had is sculptors make him a pair, but they had never actually seen one, so they created a pair based on descriptions of the animal. That was the beginning of them. They became popular and were eventually used by officials and royal family members. You can always tell the rank of the official by the number of rows of buns on the lion's manes.

The lion is a Buddhist symbol that migrated from India, 2nd century BC, and is commonly seen in front of Buddhist temples and important structures throughout Asia. They are like guardians of the gates with great symbolic power. Each country seems to have adapted their own folk tales and origin stories but Buddhism is at the heart of all of them.

[Littlepig2]

food dog?

Foo dog = Lucky dog

It did tickle my funny bone on how quickly TIM of the canine avatar came back on that one.

[TIM]

food dog?

Foo dog = Lucky dog

It did tickle my funny bone on how quickly TIM of the canine avatar came back on that one.

Of Course. Toki will not hesitate on anything canine related.

[Victoria]

Here is my Komogai-gata style chawan that is about 20 years old, but in perfect condition, purchased from Rikyu. I had been looking for a solid black match bowl:

[shyrabbit]

Wow...stunningly simple, I love it.
Michael

[Seeker]

+1!

[JBaymore]

THAT is a nice chawan! The lip undulation/landscape is very nice. The bowl allows the matcha and the other objects in the tearoom to speak. Too many contemporary chawan are "loud".

best,

................john

[shyrabbit]

John,
Thanks for your comments...might you have an example of a "loud" chawan?

Thanks,
Michael

[JBaymore]

Michael,

One of the aspects of many chawan made by many contemporary potters (both in the USA, Japan, and elsewhere) is that those pots are conceived / intended to potentially sit on a pedestal with a nice white light aimed on it..... a piece that comes across to the viewer as a complete statement/object in and of itself. These pieces are the ones that easily get through the slide jury process because they just "pop" off the screen. The potters making them "know" that the chawan is the "star of the show" when it comes to teawares... and want to make sure that the object looks like a star.

These kinds of pieces are so "strong" that they do not often allow for the subtle interplay of the matcha with the form, nor the relationships with the other pieces in the Chanoyu setting to develop. They "hog" the visual conversation. The dominate the environment. They are complete BEFORE being placed with the other objects. They are complete BEFORE the matcha is whisked to a froth. They are complete after Chanoyu is over.

And so.... they tend to "fight" with the totality.

For me, the best pieces when it comes to chadogu are complete only when they are situated in context, and are in use.

It is sort of like a really technically skilled musician who is playing as part of a symphony orchestra.... but who has a tendency to play too loudly. Instead of all that skill complementing the overall performance..... it detracts.

Many times if you look at some of the best Japanese pieces, if you think of them in the context of the contemporary ceramics jury process...... they would not get thru "the cut". They are too quiet. They don';t "pop" on the screen. Sometimes the pieces, when viewed as a solitary object, even feel unfinished, lacking overall design balance, and so on. But when that same object is seen presenting food or flowers or whatever....... they suddenly come to life. They NEED the rest of the setting to become complete.

I hate to post specific pictures of someone's work in this discussion context. I'd rather leave it to the reader to look at works and assess these qualities I'm mentioning for themselves and assess how they feel about my comments. In the "privacy" of some of my college classes I'll sometimes give visual examples (without deliberately naming names) .....but out on the Net is a different situation and that would be inappropriate, I think.

I will say that I can even cite some Ningen Kokuho's works that, to me, fit into this category. That is NOT to say the pieces themselves as "solo objects" are "bad". No... they are often stunning, strong, skillfully executed pieces. But they are TOO strong for the context of Chanoyu. They belong in a gallery on a pedestal. With a light.

As you can probably tell.... I tend to favor wabicha .

best,

................john