182. YANO Keisen (Kakegawa), 1870­-1965, Shino-glazed chawan

182. YANO Keisen (Kakegawa), 1870­-1965, Shino-glazed chawan

Yano was born in Kozoji-cho, Kasugai City, Aichi Prefecture.  At the age of 22, he was adopted by the Yano family in Seto City. While serving at the Hatayama Village Office, he began making handmade Shino bowls. In 1952, he was given the Keisen name by Abbot Sen of the Eihei-ji, one of two main temples of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism.

Gray clay, white Shino glaze, foot ring and area above it unglazed. Weight: 182 g (6.5 oz). Width of rim (maximum width): 10.7-11.3 cm (4-1/4 - 4-1/2 in).  Height: 3.7-4.4 cm (1-1/2 - 1-3/4 in).

This was formed by hand. It sits on the foot ring, which is a rough circle some 5.1 cm (2 in) in diameter and 0.5 cm (3/16 in) high on the outside. The inside of the foot ring was hollowed out to about half this height. The artist’s mark, a small, oval cartouche with what appear to be the characters for Yano in seal script, was impressed into the wall of the bowl just above the foot ring (visible in the last picture just above the rightmost loop of the black design). The walls, which are thick for such a small bowl, rise in a convex arc from the foot ring to the rim. The walls and the rim are very bumpy and irregular.

With the exception of the foot ring and the area above it, this was glazed in Shino and fired at a temperature that left it crackled but with none of the red tints or carbon capture that can result with this glaze. The front of the bowl has a looped, almost calligraphic design in black.

This was labeled a “chawan” by the seller, but it’s small for a teabowl. A very simple and “rustic” design.

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times in Bangkok in 2022.