Rare LNT Seto Guro Chawan Tea Bowl ー加藤 卓男 “瀬戸黒茶盌”

A powerful black tea bowl by Living National Treasure Kato Takuo, enclosed in its original signed wooden box titled Seto Guro Chawan. Broad and nearly cylindrical in form, the bowl rises to an irregular, gently undulating rim, retaining the subtle throwing lines and purposeful asymmetry of its making. A deep lustrous black glaze envelops both interior and exterior, varying from softly reflective passages to areas of dense, almost matte black, while minute openings and irregularities in the glaze reveal flashes of the warm clay beneath. Particularly effective along the lip, these small breaks form a fine intermittent line of ochre against the black, emphasizing the bowl's uneven profile. The restrained form and richly varied surface give the Chawan an unusually direct, elemental character, quite distinct from Kato's celebrated polychrome work. His impressed mark appears beside the unglazed foot. It measures 13.5 cm (5-1/4 inches) in diameter and 8.8 cm (3-1/2 inches) tall and is in excellent condition. Kato Takuo (1917-2005), I am sure, requires no introduction. He was born in Tajimi, center of the Mino ceramic tradition the son of Kato Kobei. Trained in ceramics at the Tajimi Technical School as well as under his father. He entered military service in 1938, and served until wars end. He then contracted leukemia, and spent another ten years fighting for his life. He debuted at the Nitten National Exhibition in 1956, and was soon accepted and consistently displayed at any number of National and International Exhibitions. In 1980 he was commissioned by the Imperial Household Agency to produce a restoration of the Shosoin Three Color Glaze. In 1991 he received the JCS (Japan Ceramic Society) prize, one of the most important honors for a potter. He was named a Living National Treasure in 1995 for his work in Sansai glazes.