Hagi Ware: The Tea Bowl That Changes With Use
Tea people have an old saying: first Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu. It ranks the favourite tea bowls of Japan, and Hagi ware from Yamaguchi Prefecture sits near the top. Its appeal is gentle: soft forms, warm milky glazes and a surface that changes year by year as the bowl is used.
Origins
Hagi ware began in the early seventeenth century, when Korean potters brought to Japan after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea established kilns under the Mōri clan, lords of the Hagi domain. Their descendants served as official clan potters, and the early bowls closely follow Korean forms prized by tea masters.
Clay and glaze
Hagi clay is soft and fired at a relatively low temperature, so the body stays slightly porous. It is covered with a feldspar glaze, sometimes thickened with straw ash into a white, snowy coat. Colours range from loquat-skin pinks and oranges to cream and white, depending on the clay and the firing.
The seven changes of Hagi
The glaze is covered with fine crackle (kannyū). Over years of use, tea seeps through the cracks into the body, slowly darkening and softening the colour. Tea people call this Hagi no nanabake, the seven transformations of Hagi, and a well-used bowl that has changed in this way is treasured.
The cut foot
Many Hagi bowls have a notch cut into the foot ring (kiri-kōdai). Several stories explain it, but whatever its origin it has become a signature of the ware, and collectors look for it.
Families and potters
Two lineages descend from the founding potters: the Saka family, whose heads take the name Saka Kōraizaemon, and the Miwa family. Two heads of the Miwa line, the tenth and eleventh generations, were designated Living National Treasures, and the family remains among the most respected in Japanese ceramics. Modern Hagi also includes adventurous studio potters working beyond the classic forms.
What collectors look for
- A soft, even glaze with lively crackle.
- A well-formed foot, often left partly unglazed to show the clay.
- The potter's seal and a signed box.
- For older bowls, a gentle, even change in colour from use rather than staining in patches.
Caring for a Hagi bowl
- Soak the bowl in clean water for a little while before first use, and rinse it before each use, so it absorbs water rather than tea in uneven patches.
- After use, rinse with water only, no detergent.
- Dry it thoroughly, upside down and then upright, before storing. A porous bowl stored damp can grow mould.