Inuyama Ware Unkin-de Tea Bowl by Ozeki Sakujuro - Cherry Blossom and Maple Chawan

Experience authentic Japanese ceramics with this Inuyama Ware Unkin-de Tea Bowl by Ozeki Sakujuro. This Japanese Matcha Bowl serves as an Inuyama Kiln Ceramic masterpiece and Handmade Tea Ceremony Chawan, featuring Cherry Blossom Maple and Overglaze Enamel Design—a must-have for any Japanese Art Collector seeking authentic Zen Tea Accessories and Traditional Aichi Pottery.

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🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]

• Artist: Ozeki Sakujuro (尾関作十郎)
• Technique: Overglaze enamel painting (色絵) — Unkin-de (雲錦手) cloud brocade design
• Era: Contemporary (Heisei period)
• Origin: Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan (犬山本窯 — Inuyama Main Kiln)
• Dimensions: Height approx. 8.5 cm × Diameter approx. 11.5 cm (3.3" × 4.5")
• Box: Tomobako (kiln-signed wooden box)
• Condition: Excellent — no chips, cracks, or repairs

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🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]

Inuyama ware belongs to the Owari ceramic lineage, born along the banks of the Kiso River in what is now Aichi Prefecture. The Ozeki family has maintained the Inuyama Main Kiln across generations, preserving a tradition that stretches back to the early Edo period when the local feudal lord patronized its founding.

The unkin-de (雲錦手) — literally "cloud brocade" — is among the most poetic motifs in Japanese ceramics. It combines cherry blossoms (representing spring) with maple leaves (representing autumn), compressing two seasons onto a single surface. The philosophical implication is profound: beauty exists simultaneously in beginning and ending, in bud and fall. The practitioner who lifts this bowl holds both spring and autumn in their hands.

Ozeki Sakujuro's execution renders cherry blossoms as scattered constellations of red and teal dots — an impressionistic suggestion rather than literal depiction — while the maple leaves are painted with bold, unmistakable clarity in red, green, and teal. Dark iron-oxide branches thread between them, grounding the floating elements to a sense of place: a riverbank, perhaps, where petals drift and leaves settle.

*"Two seasons meet on a single bowl — and the tea between them tastes of neither, and of both."*

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🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]

**The Unkin-de Tradition**: Unkin-de (雲錦手) is a classical decorative scheme found across multiple Japanese ceramic traditions. "Cloud brocade" refers to the way cherry blossoms float like clouds while autumn leaves spread like woven brocade. By placing these opposing seasons together, the motif transcends temporal reality — each viewing becomes an encounter with the Japanese understanding of impermanence and cyclical beauty.

**The Ozeki Family Legacy**: The Ozeki family has served as hereditary potters of the Inuyama Main Kiln for multiple generations. The name "Sakujuro" (作十郎) is itself a hereditary title passed from master to successor, ensuring continuity of technique and aesthetic sensibility. Each generation inherits not just methods but a responsibility to the kiln's identity.

**Overglaze Enamel Palette**: The vivid colors — crimson red, emerald green, teal blue — are achieved through overglaze enamel (上絵付), applied after the initial glaze firing and then refired at lower temperature. This secondary firing fuses the pigments to the surface while preserving their intensity. The iron-oxide tree trunks, painted in a looser brush style, provide a deliberate contrast to the precise enamel work.

**Seasonal Versatility in Chado**: Because the unkin-de design contains elements of both spring and autumn, this bowl transcends the usual seasonal rotation of tea utensils. It may be used across multiple seasons — particularly during transitional months when one season fades into another. This versatility makes it especially valued in tea collections.

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🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]

【基本情報】
• 作家：尾関作十郎
• 技法：色絵（雲錦手）
• 時代：平成
• 産地：犬山（愛知県）犬山本窯
• 寸法：高さ約8.5cm × 口径約11.5cm
• 付属：共箱
• 状態：良好（ヒビ・カケなし）

【解説】
本作は犬山本窯・尾関作十郎による雲錦手茶碗です。雲錦手とは、桜と紅葉を一碗に描き込む意匠であり、春と秋——始まりと終わり——を同時に手の中に包み込む詩的な構図です。

尾関家は犬山焼の本窯を代々守り続けてきた名門です。「作十郎」の名は襲名制で受け継がれ、各世代がその技術と美意識を次代に伝えています。鉄絵の幹、赤・緑・青緑の色絵の紅葉、点描で表現される桜——その筆致には伝統に裏打ちされた確かさがあります。

雲錦手は季節を超えた意匠であるため、春から秋にかけて幅広い茶会で用いることができ、茶人にとって重宝される一碗です。

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🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials

*Spring and autumn have never been far apart — only the distance of a single turning leaf.*