Early Karatsu Chawan Tea Bowl w/ Kintsugi Gold Repair

A Momoyama to early Edo period (16th to 17th century) Karatsu Chawan with veins of gold running through the deeply textured glaze enclosed in a fine kiri-wood box titled Karatsu Chawan named Hanagumori and endorsed by a tea master. The bowl is 11.5 x 12.5 x 6.3 cm (4-1/2 x 5 x 2-1/2 inches) and is an excellent example of the aesthetica of the period. Hanagumori (flower-clouded sky) describes the softly overcast skies of spring that often appear during the cherry blossom season. Rather than the heavy darkness of rain clouds, these light, luminous clouds gently veil the sun, creating a serene, diffused light that seems perfectly suited to the fleeting beauty of the blossoms. Revered for centuries as a spring kigo in Japanese poetry, hanagumori evokes both the quiet radiance and the ephemeral spirit of the season.