Zeze Ware Night Cherry Blossom Tea Bowl by Kagerou-en - Iro-e Yozakura Chawan

Experience Authentic Japanese Tea Culture with this Zeze Ware Tea Bowl. This Night Cherry Blossom Chawan serves as an Iro-e Overglaze Ceramic and Kagerou-en Pottery, featuring Sakura Flower Design and Enshu Seven Kilns tradition—a must-have for any Art Collector seeking Shiga Prefecture Art and Spring Flower Ceramic.

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🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]

• Artist: Kagerou-en Kiln (陽炎園)
• Technique: Iro-e overglaze enamel on tenmoku-style glaze (色絵夜桜)
• Era: Contemporary (Heisei period)
• Origin: Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan (Zeze-yaki)
• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 11.5 cm (4.5 in), Height approx. 7 cm (2.8 in)
• Box: Signed tomobako (共箱)
• Condition: Good — minor staining on foot ring

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🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]

Zeze ware holds a distinguished position among the Enshu Nana-gama — the Seven Kilns favored by Kobori Enshu, the legendary tea master and aesthete of the early Edo period. While Zeze ware is traditionally known for austere, tea-spirit forms, the Kagerou-en kiln has expanded its vocabulary to include iro-e decoration, merging Zeze's tonal depth with painterly expression.

This yozakura (night cherry blossom) bowl captures the specific Japanese experience of viewing sakura after dark — hanami by lantern light, where blossoms glow white against the blackness. The dark tenmoku-style ground becomes the night sky, while gold-brushed branches carry clusters of white enamel petals both inside and outside the bowl. When matcha is whisked within, the drinker looks down into a canopy of blossoms.

*"Night erases everything but the blossoms — what remains is what matters."*

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🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]

**The Enshu Seven Kilns**: Kobori Enshu (1579–1647) selected seven kilns across Japan whose aesthetic matched his vision of kirei-sabi — beauty within rusticity. Zeze, located near Lake Biwa in present-day Shiga Prefecture, produced wares prized for their quiet depth. The Kagerou-en kiln has worked to sustain and evolve this tradition through successive generations.

**Technical Achievement**: The yozakura technique begins with a dark iron-rich tenmoku glaze fired at high temperature. Once cooled, white enamel petals and gold-painted branches are applied as overglaze, then re-fired at lower temperature. The contrast between the somber base and luminous blossoms creates a theatrical depth — the ceramic equivalent of spotlighting.

**Seasonal Resonance**: Yozakura bowls appear in spring tea gatherings, typically March through April. The theme carries a specific emotional weight in Japanese aesthetics — mono no aware, the bittersweet awareness of impermanence. Cherry blossoms viewed at night intensify this feeling, as darkness frames their fragility.

**Interior Decoration**: The interior cherry blossom motif is particularly notable. As the tea is consumed and the bowl emptied, blossoms gradually emerge from beneath the green matcha — a moment of quiet revelation designed into the drinking experience.

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🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]

【基本情報】
• 作家：陽炎園
• 技法：色絵夜桜（天目釉上に上絵付）
• 時代：現代（平成）
• 産地：滋賀県大津（膳所焼）
• 寸法：径約11.5cm、高さ約7cm
• 付属：共箱
• 状態：良好（高台に若干の汚れ）

【解説】
膳所焼は小堀遠州が愛した「遠州七窯」の一つとして知られ、茶の湯の精神に通じる静謐な佇まいを持つ。陽炎園はその伝統を継承しつつ、色絵という華やかな表現を取り入れた窯元である。

本作「夜桜」は、暗い天目調の釉薬を夜闇に見立て、その上に金彩の枝と白い桜花を描き出した逸品。見込み（内側）にも桜が描かれており、抹茶を点てて飲み進めるうちに花が姿を現すという、茶碗ならではの演出が施されている。夜桜見物の情緒を手のひらに閉じ込めた、春の茶席にふさわしい一碗。

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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

*Night cherry blossoms emerge as the tea recedes — presence revealed through absence.*