{"product_id":"kuro-oribe-tea-bowl-by-shunsou-black-and-white-oribe-chawan-with-iron-painted-flower-motif-and-signed-box","title":"Kuro-Oribe Tea Bowl by Shunsou - Black and White Oribe Chawan with Iron-Painted Flower Motif and Signed Box","description":"Experience authentic Japanese tea culture with this Kuro-Oribe Tea Bowl by Shunsou. This Japanese Matcha Bowl serves as a Mino Oribe Ware Chawan and Handcrafted Black Glaze Tea Ceremony Vessel, featuring Dramatic Iron-Painted Flower Design and Bold Black-White Contrast—a must-have for any collector seeking authentic Mino Ceramic artistry and distinctive Zen Tea Accessories.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Shunsou (春草) — contemporary Mino-style potter\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Kuro-Oribe (black Oribe) — black iron glaze over stoneware with applied white slip panel; iron-oxide painted 8-petal flower motif on slip ground\u003cbr\u003e• Era: Contemporary (Heisei–Reiwa period)\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Mino ware tradition, Japan\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 11.5 cm × Height approx. 9 cm (4.5\" × 3.5\")\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Tomobako (artist-signed wooden box, 茶椀 春草飛 印)\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Excellent — no chips, cracks, or repairs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOribe ware (織部焼) emerged in the early Edo period under the influence of Furuta Oribe, a daimyo and disciple of Sen no Rikyu who became one of the most important tea masters of his generation. Unlike Rikyu's austere preference for simple, quiet vessels, Oribe celebrated asymmetry, bold decoration, and the unexpected — a ceramic philosophy that felt almost avant-garde within the conservative world of tea ceremony. Kuro-Oribe, the black variant, amplifies these qualities through its lacquer-dark iron glaze, which in strong light reveals depth and movement hidden from casual inspection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShunsou's bowl captures the essential drama of Kuro-Oribe: approximately two-thirds of the exterior surface is covered in a lustrous black iron glaze, while a roughly triangular white slip panel on the front reveals the pale textured clay body beneath. Within this white ground, the potter has painted an 8-petal flower in iron brown — a motif that reads as both decorative and symbolic, the petals radiating from a central point in a composition that recalls both traditional textile designs and the meditative geometry of the mandala.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe rim is deliberately irregular and slightly notched in one area, a characteristic feature of Oribe work that signals the intentional refusal of symmetrical perfection. When the bowl is used for tea, the white panel naturally faces the guest as the \"front\" of the bowl, framing the flower motif as a focal point for contemplation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*\"Black holds silence; white declares it — the flower grows in the space between them.\"*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Kuro-Oribe Technique**: The black glaze in Kuro-Oribe is produced by applying a thick iron-oxide rich glaze that, in reduction firing, achieves a deep lustrous black. On this bowl, the glaze shows slight variations in surface texture — areas of high gloss alongside matte patches — evidence of the natural movement of glaze during firing. This textural variation prevents the black from reading as flat or lifeless; instead it has a depth that rewards extended looking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Iron-Painted Flower Motif**: The 8-petal flower (八弁花) painted in iron brown on the white slip ground shows confident, fluid brushwork. The petals are painted with single strokes, each slightly uneven in width, demonstrating the hallmark of skilled iron-painting: the brush is not labored or corrected but committed to each mark. Around the central point, the spacing creates an impression of rotation, as though the flower is caught mid-turn. The surrounding pinholes in the white slip surface add textural contrast and reinforce the organic quality of the decoration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Form and Proportion**: At 11.5 cm in diameter and 9 cm in height, this is a relatively tall chawan — a proportion that makes it suitable for both koicha (thick tea) and usucha (thin tea) practice, depending on the season and context. The tall walls hold warmth well and provide ample room for the chasen (tea whisk) to move freely. The foot ring is clean and proportioned, giving the bowl a stable, grounded presence on the tatami.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Oribe Spirit**: Furuta Oribe's aesthetic legacy lives in bowls like this one — not through direct lineage but through the continued commitment to visual tension, asymmetry, and the pleasure of the unexpected. The collector who places this bowl on a shelf will find it changes character with the hour and the light, the black glaze absorbing the room around it while the white flower panel holds steady as a fixed point of attention.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【基本情報】\u003cbr\u003e• 作家：春草\u003cbr\u003e• 技法：黒織部焼き、鉄釉掛け分け、白化粧地に鉄絵花文\u003cbr\u003e• 時代：現代（平成〜令和期）\u003cbr\u003e• 産地：美濃焼伝統、日本\u003cbr\u003e• 寸法：直径約11.5cm × 高さ約9cm\u003cbr\u003e• 付属：共箱（「茶椀 春草」印あり）\u003cbr\u003e• 状態：良好（ヒビ・カケなし）\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【解説】\u003cbr\u003e春草による黒織部茶碗。漆黒の鉄釉と白化粧のコントラストが視覚的な緊張感を生み出す、織部焼の精神を体現した一椀です。白化粧の地には鉄絵で八弁の花文が描かれ、一筆一筆の運びに迷いのない確かな技が表れています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e黒釉は光の当たる角度によって表情を変え、深い艶の中に微妙なテクスチャーの変化が隠れています。白い部分の梅花皮状のザラつきが黒釉の滑らかさと対比をなし、手に持つたびに異なる感触をもたらします。口縁のわずかな歪みは、織部焼に特有の意図的な非対称性の表れです。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e共箱に作家印「春草飛」の押印があり、来歴が明確な作品です。強いデザイン性と茶碗としての実用性を兼ね備えた、茶の湯の場でも床飾りとしても映える逸品です。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ SHIPPING \u0026amp; PACKAGING ]\u003cbr\u003e• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days\u003cbr\u003e• Carrier: Japan Post EMS \/ UPS (with tracking)\u003cbr\u003e• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Where black meets white on the surface of a bowl, the tea master finds a garden in the space of a single breath.*","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61818854113650,"sku":"260429_a_2774","price":469.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m79743354924_1.jpg?v=1777479126","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/kuro-oribe-tea-bowl-by-shunsou-black-and-white-oribe-chawan-with-iron-painted-flower-motif-and-signed-box","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}