- Type
- Setoguro
- Details
- A bowl for drinking matcha. Like a range of mountains on a moonlit night: the rim rises and falls as a ridgeline, and a deeply folded black mountainside runs down to the foot. Setoguro chawan.
- Materials
- Mogusa clay (rare clay)
- Size
- φ147mm
- Height
- 100 mm
- Weight
- About 500g
- Texture
- The surface has deep relief, and the pads of your fingers move over it as over a mountainside. The corners where the faces meet press against your palm, and the bowl finds a new resting place each time you shift your grip. For its width it has real weight, and it sits steadily when received in both hands. The foot ring is unglazed Mogusa clay, rough to the touch like dry sand.
Features of this piece
A range of mountains on a moonlit night. The rim of this Setoguro chawan rises and falls like a ridgeline, and below it a black mountainside, deeply folded, runs all the way down. The surface breaks at several corners, and at each one a face turned to the moonlight meets a face sunk in shadow. The scene behind the name 夜山, "Night Mountain," is carried by this ridge and this mountainside.
Turn the bowl and the moonlight falls differently, and the same mountain shows another face. Near the foot the black breaks off and a wide band of bare clay appears, like the ground at the foot of a mountain before the night has fully lifted. The foot ring is left as unglazed Mogusa clay.
Inside is the same black mountainside, and only at the bottom does a pale ring of light remain, like moonlight that has reached the valley floor. Whisk matcha here and the green is like mist settled in the valley. The wide, lowish form has weight in both hands and suits a generous bowl of usucha. For the length of one bowl of tea, you hold a moonlit mountain in both hands.
Expected to ship within 10 business days from the date of order
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Setoguro
One from one kiln
Setoguro is renowned for its captivating, deep black color. Achieving this beautiful black involves using a glaze made from Oniita (iron-rich clay) mixed with ash. The piece is fired at high temperatures and then removed from the kiln while still hot, followed by rapid cooling—a technique known as "hikidashi-guro." This process was employed over 450 years ago and produced the elusive "Setoguro" ware for only about 30 years in the world of tea. In the tea ceremony, Setoguro is revered for its unique aesthetic value within the Japanese principles of wabi-sabi. By extracting the piece from a kiln over 1,100 degrees Celsius and cooling it quickly, the piece transforms into a deep black while producing beautiful cracking sounds (kan-nyu) as it cools. Only up to three pieces can be fired in one kiln at a time, and achieving a satisfying black is extremely challenging. It is said that getting one satisfactory piece from a single kiln firing is considered a success.
Rest for the heart - Setoguro
In a busy life, finding time just for yourself is harder than it seems. That is why a pause to stop and whisk a bowl of tea can quietly settle the heart. The black of Setoguro is a black that draws the light deep inside. Held in the hands, its depth seems to still even the noise around you. Whisked matcha turns a clear, vivid green against this black, leaving a little space to breathe, for the eyes and for the heart. The glossy black rests softly in the hand, and its gentleness at the lips loosens whatever has been held tight. A Setoguro chawan that Kato Takaya brought into being one bowl at a time. For a quiet moment, a little apart from the rush of the day.
Suitable for
Care
Please wash by hand using a soft sponge or cloth when cleaning. Please refrain from using abrasive sponges for cleaning.
Please note
