Kyoto Ware Matcha Chawan by Shōkoku (松谷) — Spring Fields in Raised Enamel and Gold, Signed Wooden Box

This Kyoto-ware (Kyō-yaki) tea bowl shows a spring meadow in thickly applied overglaze enamels and gold. The background is a soft pink glaze scattered with pale dots, evoking spring haze or drifting blossoms. Below it, a band of grey slip rolls around the lower body like low hills or fields.

The plants are drawn from the early-spring flora celebrated in Japanese seasonal imagery. There is a dandelion (tanpopo) with a gold-outlined yellow head and jagged leaves alternating in turquoise-green and burnished gold. There are crimson primroses (sakurasō) over rounded gold and green leaves, and sky-blue five-petalled flowers on fine gold stems. Small white and red wildflowers, fine green grass blades, and brown horsetail shoots (tsukushi) complete the scene, a classic sign of early spring in Japan. The enamels stand slightly proud of the surface and are outlined in gold, giving the painting a jewel-like, tactile quality.

Inside, the pink band continues around the rim above a grey silhouette of distant mountains. Small conifer trees in turquoise, green and blue enamel with gold outlines stand along the ridge, so the landscape completes itself when you look into the bowl. The rim is finished with a dark iron-brown edge (kuchi-sabi), which frames both the inner and outer scenes.

The bowl is thrown in a deep wan-nari form with gently tapering walls. It sits on a stepped foot of unglazed reddish-brown clay, trimmed with visible concentric tool marks. The warm clay contrasts with the pastel glazes above. On the lower wall, the pink glaze trails down into the grey in soft drips. The potter's impressed seal sits just above the foot.

The bowl comes in its original wooden box (tomobako) with a sanada-himo cord and a yellow cotton wrapping cloth. The lid is inscribed in ink with 茶碗 (chawan) and the design title, and signed 松谷造 (made by Shōkoku) with a red square seal.

Details:

• Origin: Kyoto, Japan — Kyō-yaki

• Maker: Shōkoku (松谷), impressed seal on the bowl, signed and sealed box

• Form: Matcha tea bowl (chawan), deep wan-nari shape with stepped foot

• Glaze: Pink glaze with pale dotted spots over grey slip, iron-brown rim

• Decoration: Raised overglaze enamel (iro-e) and gold spring field of dandelion, primrose, blue wildflowers, horsetail shoots and grasses. The interior rim shows a mountain ridge lined with enamelled conifers.

• Base: Unglazed reddish-brown clay foot with concentric trimming marks

• Box: Original signed wooden box (tomobako) with cord, yellow wrapping cloth included

• Condition: Good vintage/secondhand condition. The fine pinholes within the white dots are part of the glaze effect. Please see photos for any wear.

• Dimensions: (D) approx. 12 cm x (H) approx. 7.8 cm