Continuing the previous posting…
5 – Is the interior sloping inwards towards the bottom?
Avoid a chawan whose interior walls meet the bottom at a precise 90-degree angle. You don’t want there to be any corners of the chawan which cannot be reached by the whisk, otherwise the tea will contain undissolved clots of matcha. That’s not much fun for the person drinking it! Even a chawan that shows little evidence of curves on the outside will have an interior that slopes towards the bottom, if it is made with its true function in mind.
The best way to judge a chawan’s appropriateness for matcha preparation, of course, is to whisk some matcha in it. Obviously, you can’t do that when looking online! However, if you’re considering a bowl in person (particularly if it’s western-made), you have a little more leeway.
One member of the Yahoo group wakeiseijaku describes her habit of carrying a whisk (chasen) in her purse – I assume it’s stored inside a whisk case! – and evaluating any candidate bowls by “air-whisking” with it. This is preferable to handing over a wodge of money, getting the bowl home, and discovering that the diameter is just a little too narrow to manipulate the whisk, or the proportions just a little too confined…
Questions 4 and 5 belong to a larger, more general, and arguably vaguer consideration:
6 – Is the chawan well proportioned?
Traditional Japanese potters have settled on a range of chawan shapes for a reason: they work well. A well-shaped chawan is a pleasure to prepare tea in and to drink tea from. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy a bowl of an unusual shape, but you are always safe in selecting one of the traditional styles (e.g. the V-shaped Ido style, which was modelled on the Korean rice bowl of Rikyu’s time).
7 – Is the bowl a reasonable weight?
Bowls in Chadou shouldn’t be too heavy. I can’t even give you an ideal weight here – it’s something you “know” when handling a bowl. So this is a bit of a question mark. In general, Raku ware is lighter in weight than other pottery such as Kyoyaki, Bizen, Shigaraki, Hagi, Mino, and so forth. If the bowl strikes you as leaden when you weigh it in your hand, it’s too heavy.
Having said the above… many if not most of these concerns may not be relevant to you if you are a non-practitioner of tea ceremony.
And having given a sort of chapter-and-verse response, I’d like to add this:
I really feel that one of the best things we can do is to take chances with pottery, and to learn what works (or doesn’t) by working with it. By doing this, you’ll know experientially what to look for and what to avoid. Looked at this way, there are no “mistakes”, just learning opportunities.
If a bowl’s price is not high, and you really love the look of it, why not buy it and see whether it meets your needs? If you find you don’t care for it as a matcha bowl, you can always use it for other purposes (to hold sweets, nuts, etc.) – or simply enjoy displaying it.
Also, I’m a big believer in buying pottery that speaks to your spirit. If a piece strongly appeals to you, and you would feel badly if you let the opportunity pass, I think you should yield to passion and buy it.
In which case I’m saying yes, yes, yes!
References:
Jaanus webpage on chawan, with cross-section of the chawan showing its parts and their Japanese names
Some great reference articles on e-yakimono.net:
A Guide to Styles
Keshiki – Ceramic Landscapes
Clays
Glazes
Techniques
Kodai – What’s the Fuss about the Foot
The Box – Don’t Throw It Away
Caring for Your Pottery
Tips on Displaying Your Pottery
Thoughts of a chawan collector
18 May 2008 at 10:42 am
Very well written and enjoyable post. A great combination of technical knowledge, common sense, and spirit! One of my favorite and most used matcha chawan is also one of the ugliest. I almost threw it in the trash when I opened the package, but decided to at least try it. I now use it almost daily. I guess some pieces have an attraction that isn’t always visible from the pics!
18 May 2008 at 3:14 pm
I’m glad you didn’t throw out your chawan!
This is the part that’s nearly impossible to judge by photograph – how the bowl feels in your hands, what it’s like to whisk matcha in, and whether it’s good to drink tea from. For sure, some of the most sensually satisfying bowls I’ve used have also been the least exciting to look at. Yet they are very appealing.
20 May 2008 at 8:37 am
Just found this blog and read it late into the night. It really made one smile. There was a gap in the bloging community as the Japanese Way of Tea was not really represented with someone fully knowledgeable in Chanoyu. So with this blog the gap is filled and writing this post I continue to smile.
As for what to look for in a chawan…
Above all a chawan must feel right and imbue the spirit of the tea.
One should have a chance to try it out, test drive it like a new car, before purchase. This is the best way to see if it is right for you or not. This is of utmost importance when purchasing a chawon, especially if the chawon is actually the price of a car, which some are!
One should also spend a lot of time with it before purchase. One should go to the same dealer over the span of several weeks or months. Why- because when spending time with the best chawons one should always be able to see and feel something that one could not see or feel before, sometimes these ‘new’ discoveries lead one to a more positive impression of the chawon and sometimes a more negative impression.
In this way, ones should show mindfulness and exercise caution when buying on a whim. Too often in todays world of consumerism things are purchased because they are wants or they appeal to the senses, although they are not really thought out purchases. This is true for cha wons as well. One believes that if one is mindful and in the moment, purchasing in an instant, listening to ones spirit is the best way. Unfortunately these days, most who purchase aren’t of this mindset.
If you were a chawan would you want to be full of nuts or placed at the back of the cupboard?
If you were the artist who poured their soul, expelling, expressing zen, into the piece, how would you feel to know that it sits ignored?
Unlike the Japanese Way of Tea, the Korean Way of Tea is much more flexible and fluid, not relying on strict prescriptions outlined in the strict schools of tea found in Japan. This applies to both the tea ceremonies and the production of teawares. The points that you outlined in these articles are very good pointers for those who are looking to buy a chawon for the purpose of doing the Japenese tea ceremony , but for those who are not, as you have strongly mentioned one should rely on feeling, how it speaks to ones spirit.
One almost feels as though they are just repeating what you have said and agreeing.
So…
Peace
Still smiling!
21 May 2008 at 8:37 am
Thank you for your posting, Matt. I really love your Mattcha’s Blog (http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com). The pictures of Korea’s justifiably renowned tea wares are just stunning (e.g. the buncheong bowl by Lee Kang Hyo), and your stories and photos about Korean tea makes me want to book the next flight to Korea!
I appreciate your kind words about this blog, but I do want to mention Margie’s Sweet Persimmon blog (http://sweetpersimmon1.blogspot.com), which is the best Japanese tea ceremony blog of which I’m aware. Really worth a read, if you haven’t spotted it yet. Margie writes very sensitively about the Way of Tea, and her blog is an endless treasure of mini-essays about the spirit of tea.
21 May 2008 at 12:46 pm
Dear chamekke,
Thank you so much for your kind words and reference to my blog. It it written primarily for my students who are beginning the way of tea. But I hope those who are simply interested in the Japanese tea ceremony get something from it was well. I am looking forward to reading more of your blog, too.
P.S. And Matt, one of my favorite styles of tea wares are the Korean celedons.
Margie