207. KAWAMOTO Seiun, chawan (teabowl)

207. KAWAMOTO Seiun, chawan (teabowl), 1980

According to the seller, Kawamoto was a potter in the Seto tradition. I haven’t been able to find any online references to him except for the seller’s blurb on Etsy. From the seller’s description: “Made by Seto master Seiun Kawamoto, a simple and elegant Nezumi Shino chawan covered with feldspar glaze and white Momoyama design elements. The bowl [is] coated in an iron slip . . . [into which] the design is scraped and scratched. Then white glaze is applied which sinks into scraped areas, thus creating a beautiful white relief effect.”

Light gray-tan clay. Foot ring and wall areas above it  were left unglazed. Showing colors in the orangish red to dark red to black range, with decorative elements in white.  Weight: 388 g (14 oz). Height: 6.5 cm (2-5/8 in). Width of rim: 12.3 cm (4-7/8 in).

This sits on the foot ring, which is a rough circle 5 cm (2 in) in diameter about 0.6 cm (1/4 in) high on the outside. Above the ring foot, the walls slope outward in a straight line at about a 20 degree angle to a height of 2.5 cm (1 in). The diameter at this point is about the same as that of the rim. A groove runs horizontally around the bowl, roughly in the middle of the upright portions of the walls. The lip has been rounded over and is irregular in height.  The surface is pitted.

“Seiun zō” (made by Seiun) was scratched into the unglazed portion of the outer walls near the foot ring. I believe the characters are 聖雲造. I am certain about the second character and pretty sure about the third. The first character is a guess. This appears to be a Buddhist name.

The seller’s description outlines the glazing technique. The combination of the iron slip and the wood-firing gave this piece a beautiful finish.

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times in Bangkok, February 2023.