Is my Chawan too big?

[xuancheng]

I just went on another grand teaware spending spree. I bought a shallow longquan celadon bowl that I thought would be great as a summer type chawan. Then I brought it back home and realized it was a lot bigger than standard size. I know it really doesn't matter, but I was wondering what other people thought. Some professional advice from Chanoyu students and/or reactions from Matcha lovers in general would be most appreciated.



A picture with a pretty standard size chawan for scale.



It's pretty thin as well. You can see the shadow of the fingers right through the bowl. This makes for hot hands while drinking, but there is plenty of space around the edge to hold it.

The fish in the center is traditional Song dynasty Longquan celadon decoration, which was one of the reasons why I bought it.

[bonjiri]

i think its beautiful

pls make another photograph of the side.

its a translucent chawan, stunning !

is it balanced ?

looks great ! your hands seem to be balanced w the natsu chawan

[xuancheng]

I have tried to make some photos of the side, they aren't perfect.



It is not completely balanced in that one of the sides fell slightly during the firing so that the front right of he bowl is a bit wider and the rim a bit lower. It becomes more obvious when there is tea in the bowl.



Here is another side view. There is actually two places where the glaze has a hole on the bottom. You can see one here. The yellow dots are 点彩 diancai. The artist said she wasn't happy, but I was. I like the fish in the bottom because it makes me think of Zhuangzi‘s 鱼之乐 -- The happiness of the fishes.

[olivierco]

Hira chawans are used for the summer, they are wider.
The only way to see if your chawan is adequate is to actually make some matcha in it. It looks very nice anyway.

[Victoria]

I think it is beautiful! I am partial to low wide bowls. But as I have found, it is much easier to make the matcha in a flat bottom higher sided bowl then transfer for drinking. Maybe you could reserve it for whites. It's really lovely.

[chamekke]

The dimensions look generally OK. I don't see why you couldn't use it as a summertime teabowl if you like. Natsujawan (summer chawan-s) are always a bit challenging to whisk matcha in!

The foot ring seems a bit insubstantial, but that's only a potential issue if you're cleaning and pouring out the bowl in traditional tea-ceremony style - and I think you're using this just for home preparation - so that shouldn't matter, especially if you're holding the chawan firmly as you whisk.

[MarshalN]

I think this is pretty much in the Song style -- small foot ring, much like how older Tenmoku bowls are.

[bonjiri]

xuan cheng

i think its beautiful. exceptional natsu chawan.

wow. nice shape !

what i've learned from using some chawan is that porcelain clay bodies tend to conduct heat very well. too good in fact, my hands sometimes get burned.

also, the chawan is grasped with two hands while enjoying the matcha. its nice to have more thickness/balance in the body as 'insulation' if u will. there is a fine balance in thickness versus lightness (balance). at the moment i'm preferring a little thicker so my hands don't get burned. an important factor in the functionality of the matcha chawan.

i'm experimenting w/a double walled thrown and carved forms that would allow for translucency of the clay and safety in handling the chawan.

here is a prototype.




an interesting note about chawan koudai. while looking and learning many years through many museums and handling pieces in friends collections, i've noticed a commonality of a sort of ratio/formula in the design whether the chawan was created intentionally like that or not. the koudai diameter was usually 1/2 the size of the width of the chawan. of course there are variations on this. but many follow this. when i make the koudai, i don't usually measure it, it just comes out like that. if the koudai is too narrow, the profile view looks odd.

in your case, it does have a song dynasty profile and is stunning. it looks translucent too ! very difficult to analyze a photograph without handling the chawan.

is it procelain ?

aloha !

[Victoria]

Wow Cory, that is stunning!

[xuancheng]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

... Maybe you could reserve it for whites. It's really lovely.

I think its always a good idea to reserve my teaware for specific teas. Then I have a excuse to buy more teaware!

...Natsujawan (summer chawan-s) are always a bit challenging to whisk matcha in!

I'm glad I'm not the only one...

I think this is pretty much in the Song style -- small foot ring, much like how older Tenmoku bowls are.

in your case, it does have a song dynasty profile and is stunning. it looks translucent too ! very difficult to analyze a photograph without handling the chawan.

is it procelain ?

The woman who made it did say it was Song inspired.

It is porcelain, so not traditional Song material. Also, it was not intended as a Chawan, just designed as an ornamental piece. I am waiting for a really sunny day to use it a second time.

[bonjiri]

yy.

hehe

it looked like a song museum piece

amazing

u have unique handmade piece

bravo !

here in hawaii, its summer every day ! haha ! aloha
take care

c