Tea Bowl Shapes: A Glossary for the Collector
A chawan, tea bowl, is the object most closely handled in the tea ceremony. Each guest holds it, drinks from it and then studies it. Tea people have therefore developed a precise vocabulary for its shapes and parts, and knowing a little of it helps any collector describe, compare and enjoy a bowl.
Common forms
- Wan-nari. The standard rounded bowl, curving gently from foot to rim.
- Tsutsu. A tall cylinder. It keeps tea warm and is used in winter.
- Hantsutsu. A half-cylinder, between the standard and the tall forms.
- Hira. A wide, shallow bowl that lets tea cool quickly, used in summer.
- Tenmoku. A conical bowl with a small foot and a constricted rim, descended from Chinese bowls brought back by monks. It is traditionally presented on a stand.
- Ido. Korean bowls of the sixteenth century, prized by Japanese tea masters, with a deep body and a tall foot.
- Kutsu-gata. The shoe shape, pushed out of round, associated with Oribe ware.
- Kyō-nari. Kyoto-style bowls, often refined and painted.
Parts of a bowl
- Kuchi. The rim. Tea people look at how the lip is formed and how it meets the mouth.
- Dō. The body.
- Koshi. The lower part where the body turns towards the foot.
- Kōdai. The foot ring. Much of a potter's character is read here, from the trimming marks to the clay left bare.
- Mikomi. The interior seen from above.
- Chadamari. The small well at the bottom inside, where the last of the tea gathers.
- Kairagi. The crawled, beaded glaze around the foot of an Ido bowl, highly prized.
The front of the bowl
Most tea bowls have a shōmen, a front, often the most decorated or most expressive side. The host presents the bowl with the front facing the guest. Out of respect, the guest turns the bowl before drinking so as not to drink from the front, and turns it back before returning it.
How to look at a bowl
- Hold it low, over a cloth or a table, never high in the air.
- Look first at the overall form, then at the glaze, the rim, the interior and finally the foot.
- Note the weight. Raku bowls are light and warm; Ido and Shino can be surprisingly heavy.
- Look at the box. The inscription often gives the type, the potter and sometimes a poetic name.
Bowls by kiln
Each great ware has favourite forms. Raku is hand-built and generous in the hand. Hagi bowls are soft and change colour with use. Shino bowls are thick-walled and gently cylindrical. Karatsu bowls are often wide and directly painted. Learning to recognise the shape is often the first step to recognising the kiln.