{"product_id":"kuro-raku-matcha-bowl-black-tea-chawan-by-suraku-kyoto-tomobako","title":"Kuro Raku Matcha Bowl Black Tea Chawan by Suraku Kyoto Tomobako","description":"A kuro raku chawan — black raku tea bowl — hand-formed by Suraku of Kyoto's Katsura kiln lineage. Kuro raku matcha bowl with tomobako, black-glazed low-fired earthenware in the Momoyama wabi tradition. The glaze pools deep and still, then breaks warm amber near the foot — a conversation between fire and intention. Japanese tea ceremony bowl signed and boxed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: 崇楽 (Sūraku) — Kyoto Raku ware, Katsura kiln lineage (桂窯系, related to the Sasaki Shōraku \/ Chōraku family)\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Kuro Raku (黒楽) — hand-formed tezukune, low-temperature kiln-fired\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Kyoto, Japan\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 11 cm \/ Height approx. 8 cm\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Tomobako (共箱) — artist-signed paulownia wood box included. Lid inscription: 黒楽茶碗 \/ 崇楽造\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Good. Glaze surface intact with natural variation from firing. No chips or cracks. Minor age-appropriate patina consistent with use in the tea practice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[ 日本語解説 — 基本情報 ]\u003cbr\u003e• 作者：崇楽（京都・桂窯系 \/ 佐々木昌楽・長楽家に連なる楽焼系譜）\u003cbr\u003e• 技法：黒楽焼（手づくね成形・低温還元焼成）\u003cbr\u003e• 産地：京都\u003cbr\u003e• サイズ：直径約11cm \/ 高さ約8cm\u003cbr\u003e• 箱：共箱（桐箱）付き。箱書：「黒楽茶碗」「崇楽造」\u003cbr\u003e• 状態：良好。自然な窯変・艶ムラあり。欠けや割れなし。茶道での使用に由来する経年の風合いあり。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003eThe story of kuro Raku begins in the Momoyama period, when the tile-maker Chōjirō — working under the direct aesthetic direction of Sen no Rikyū — first pressed clay into a form that refused ornament entirely. What emerged was a bowl shaped by the palm rather than the wheel: irregular, weighted, intimate. Rikyu's directive was not simply stylistic. Black, in the philosophy of wabi, is the color of withdrawal — a surface that does not reflect the room, that turns attention inward, toward the tea itself and the single moment of encounter between host and guest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWithin the broader Kyoto ceramics world, several lineages have carried the kuro Raku tradition alongside the Raku family proper. The Katsura kiln lineage — to which Sūraku belongs — represents one such branch: potters who absorbed the hand-formed, low-fire philosophy and transmitted it through their own artistic signature. The name 崇楽 carries the character for veneration (崇) alongside the Raku 楽, a declaration of aesthetic inheritance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis bowl's glaze reveals what no photograph fully captures: a depth that shifts between absolute black at the rim and a warm amber-tinged brown where the glaze thins toward the unglazed foot. Light does not bounce from kuro Raku — it is received. Held.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e「黒は光を吸う。そして、沈黙を返す。」\u003cbr\u003eBlack absorbs light. And returns silence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[ 日本語解説 — 文化的背景 ]\u003cbr\u003e黒楽の歴史は桃山時代に始まる。千利休の美意識のもと、瓦師・長次郎が轆轤を用いずに手でひねり上げたその茶碗は、飾りを拒絶する形だった。「黒」とは侘びの哲学において、反射しない色—部屋を映さず、ただ内へと意識を向かわせる色だ。崇楽の属する桂窯系は、楽家本流とは独立しながら、手づくね・低温焼成という楽焼の精神を継承してきた系譜のひとつ。「崇楽」という名の「崇」の字には、その美的継承への敬意が刻まれている。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003eKuro Raku earthenware occupies a singular position in the ceramic arts: it is perhaps the only tradition in which technical limitation is itself the medium. The low-temperature firing — achieved through a single firing in a small, hand-operated kiln using bellows (fuigo, 鞴) — was not a compromise but a deliberate choice. High-temperature stoneware produces harder, denser surfaces; Raku clay remains soft, warm to the touch, porous in a way that breathes. The tea practitioner lifting this bowl will feel its warmth almost immediately — the low-density body conducts heat slowly, holding the temperature of the tea against the palms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe forming process is equally resistant to systematization. Tezukune (手づくね) — hand-building without the wheel — means that every bowl is a recording of the pressure applied, the moment of hesitation, the decision to stop. You can see this in the slightly asymmetric lip of this piece, in the way the walls compress differently on opposing sides. These are not flaws to be corrected in future versions. They are the version.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe glaze applied here is the classic kuro Raku black: a lead-silicate base combined with iron oxide and other minerals, applied thickly and fired at approximately 750–800°C. At this temperature, the glaze does not fully vitrify — it remains semi-matte in places, with a depth that appears to shift depending on the angle of light. Where the glaze pools near the base, it darkens toward absolute black. Where it thins over raised clay texture, it cools to amber and brown. The unglazed foot ring (kodai) reveals the pale, warm buff clay body — Kyoto earth, distinct from the darker iron-rich clays of other regions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe relationship between kuro Raku and matcha is not accidental. The vivid, saturated green of whisked matcha — particularly in usucha preparation — reads with unusual clarity against a black ground. The bowl becomes a frame, not for decoration, but for the liquid itself. In the chado practice, this is the object that most directly enacts the principle of ichigo-ichie (一期一会): this gathering, this bowl, this moment of tea will not occur again in precisely this way. The black glaze holds that weight without announcement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSūraku's tomobako inscription is handwritten directly on the paulownia lid: 黒楽茶碗 \/ 崇楽造. The box itself is well-joined, clean, and unmarked by moisture. It represents not only storage but authentication — an unbroken continuity between maker, object, and new custodian.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[ 日本語解説 — 深層解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e黒楽は、技術的制約そのものが表現の核となる、稀有な陶芸の領域に属する。鞴（ふいご）を用いた小窯での低温焼成は、妥協ではなく意図的な選択だった。高温焼成の磁器や炻器が硬く緻密な質感をもつのに対し、楽焼の土は柔らかく、温かみがあり、微細な気孔を持つ。この茶碗を両手で包むと、低密度の土が熱をゆっくりと蓄え、お茶の温度を掌に伝え続ける。手づくね成形は、轆轤による均質化を拒む。加えられた圧力の記録、躊躇の痕跡、止める決断——それらが茶碗の形そのものになる。この器のわずかな口縁の歪み、左右で異なる壁の厚みは、修正されるべき欠陥ではなく、この茶碗がこの茶碗である理由だ。黒楽釉は鉛珪酸塩を基底に酸化鉄等を加えた釉薬で、約750〜800℃で焼成される。薄抹茶の鮮烈な緑は、黒地に映えて際立つ。一期一会の重みを、この茶碗は黙って引き受けている。\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","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61748341113202,"sku":"260409_a_2702","price":791.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m32877854962_1.jpg?v=1775738290","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/kuro-raku-matcha-bowl-black-tea-chawan-by-suraku-kyoto-tomobako","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}