Tea bowl, 'Tenmoku' style

Collection NumberA000469
TitleTea bowl, 'Tenmoku' style
DateEarly Edo period, 17th century
Artist, Kiln, Workshop瀬戸窯　Seto ware／美濃窯　Mino ware
Name of prefectures & citiesAichi prefecture or Gifu prefecture, Japan
Description of works【Handsome temmoku tea bowl — a Japanese Edo-period original】
　This is an example of temmoku tea bowls made at the beginning of the Edo period which were not modeled after the Chinese originals. Generally speaking, they were taller and heavier-looking than the Chinese tea bowls, and produced mainly at kilns in Seto (Aichi Prefecture) and Mino (southern Gifu Prefecture). They were in high demand and large temples were known to have owned many of these bowls.
　On the underside is an inscription in sumi ink reading “gan” (rock), possibly indicating its origin. This and eight other temmoku bowls, all bearing different inscriptions, as well as 11 temmokudai (tea bowl stands), were found together in a box which was covered by a paper jacket with the inscription, “Daitoku-ji Temple,” but the inscription’s relevance to the contents is not known.

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