A chawan by Nakamura Ryoji in ash glaze, painted with tsuyukusa — the dayflower, a small blue flower that blooms and closes within a single morning. The glaze holds a milky, brushed luminescence. Indigo, purple, green, white: each flower is unhurried. The bowl comes new, unwitnessed.
【 Basic Details 】 • Artist: Nakamura Ryoji (中村良二) • Style: Haiyu (灰釉 — ash glaze) with overglaze enamel painting • Motif: Tsuyukusa (露草 — Asian dayflower, Commelina communis) • Comes with original wooden storage box (木箱) • Condition: New, unused
【 Cultural Insight 】 Tsuyukusa — the dayflower — is a motif with deep resonance in Japanese seasonal aesthetics. Its blue pigment, extracted and used as a fugitive dye in Edo-period fabrics (aizuri), was deliberately impermanent: it fades. The poet Basho used tsuyukusa to speak of evanescence — "the dayflower color: it fades." On a tea bowl intended for use, this carries weight. You hold a flower that acknowledges its own passing. This is not sadness. It is honesty.
【 Deep Dive 】 Nakamura Ryoji works in the Kyo-yaki (京焼) tradition — Kyoto ceramics defined by refined painting over glaze. The ash glaze base gives this bowl an unusual milky-warm ground, softer than standard white porcelain. The enamel painting is multi-layered: indigo-blue petals, violet buds, precise green stems, and small white flowers with yellow stamens — the full tsuyukusa. The iron-rust rim banding is a technical signature of this style, anchoring the painting compositionally. The bowl form is open and welcoming, suited to summer temae. The wooden box still holds the scent of fresh cedar.
【 Japanese 】 中村良二作 灰釉露草絵茶碗。乳白色の灰釉地に色絵で描いた露草が鮮やか。新品未使用、木箱付き。京焼の華やかな色絵技法と、露草の一日花が持つ無常の美が共存する一碗。
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
