Daisha Kiln Black Raku Matcha Bowl First Firing with Original Box

The bowl is absolute in its blackness. No variation, no relief — only the presence of lacquer-dark clay drawn upward by hand, its interior holding a stillness that asks something of the light. The box reads: shodai, first firing.

This matcha bowl (chawan) was produced by Daisha Kiln (大社窯) in the tradition of black Raku (kuro Raku). The form follows the deep, cylindrical well of the Raku lineage — hand-formed (tebineri), not thrown on a wheel — with walls that carry the faint memory of the maker's pressure. The glaze is a uniform lacquer black, matte at the lower register, developing a subtle sheen toward the rim. The foot ring (kodai) sits low, exposing a narrow band of unglazed clay at the base. Interior dimensions are generous, suited to the whisking of thick matcha (koicha). The signed tomobako bears the inscription indicating this was a first firing piece (shodai), which carries significance in the Raku tradition. Diameter approximately 11 cm, height approximately 8 cm.

Raku ware was codified by Chojiro in the sixteenth century at the direction of the tea master Sen no Rikyu. The tradition sought a bowl that would embody the wabi aesthetic — irregular, hand-formed, fired low and slow, drawn from the kiln by hand tongs rather than allowed to cool gradually. Black Raku achieves its depth through the application of the characteristic Raku lead glaze fired in a reducing atmosphere. The result is a surface that absorbs rather than reflects — a visual silence that amplifies the green of matcha placed within. Daisha Kiln maintains this tradition through contemporary practice.

For the practitioner of tea, this is a working vessel: appropriately sized, weighted to support the bowl-in-two-hands posture of chado, its blackness creating the high contrast that displays matcha at its most vivid. For the collector, the first-firing inscription adds a layer of documentation — this is a piece that marks the opening of a kiln's productive life.

The bowl presents in clean condition. Minor pitting visible in the lower exterior glaze surface is characteristic of the Raku firing process and is not considered a defect within the tradition.

【日本語説明】
大社窯の黒楽茶碗です。共箱に「初窯」の墨書あり。直径約11cm、高さ約8cm。手びねり成形による漆黒の楽釉が施された正統的な黒楽茶碗。茶道具として使用可能な状態です。

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