Kyoto Ware Matcha Chawan by Tanaka Kōsen — Hand-Painted Miyako-wasure, Gold Accents, Signed Wooden Box

This Kyoto-ware (Kyō-yaki) tea bowl is by Tanaka Kōsen (田中香泉), a maker whose floral and glaze-effect chawan appear regularly on the Japanese tea-ware market. It has a soft ivory-grey glaze with a fine allover crackle and is hand-painted in overglaze enamels with miyako-wasure (都忘れ, Miyamayomena savatieri), a small aster-like flower cultivated in Japan since the Edo period. The blooms range from pale lilac to deep violet, with raised yellow centres and dotted stamens. They sit among green leaves with gilded veins, and a few leaves are rendered entirely in burnished gold. The flowers also spill over the rim onto the inner wall, a common chawan device that carries the decoration into the drinker's view. 

The name miyako-wasure means "forgetting the capital." It is traditionally linked to the exiled Emperor Juntoku, who is said to have found solace in the flower on Sado Island. The motif therefore carries a literary note of consolation and quiet remembrance. The flower blooms in late spring to early summer, which makes the bowl suited to that season in the tea calendar.

The painting follows the Kyoto iro-e (overglaze enamel) tradition, with its layered colour, gold highlights, and a pale crackled ground that makes the enamels stand out. The bowl has a deep, rounded wan-nari form with gently tapering walls and a generous interior for whisking. The foot ring is left unglazed, revealing a fine cream-white clay body with a neatly trimmed spiral inside the foot. Kōsen's impressed seal sits just above the foot.

The bowl comes in its original wooden box (tomobako) with a sanada-himo cord. The lid is inscribed in ink with 茶碗 (chawan) and signed 平安 (Heian, the classical name for Kyoto) with the potter's name and a red seal. A paper leaflet is included inside the box.

Details:

• Origin: Kyoto, Japan — Kyō-yaki

• Maker: Tanaka Kōsen (田中香泉), impressed seal on the bowl, signed and sealed box

• Form: Matcha tea bowl (chawan), deep rounded wan-nari shape

• Glaze: Ivory-grey glaze with fine allover crackle (kannyū)

• Decoration: Hand-painted overglaze enamel (iro-e) miyako-wasure flowers with gold accents, continuing onto the inner rim

• Base: Unglazed foot ring in cream-white clay, trimmed spiral inside the foot

• Box: Original signed wooden box (tomobako) with cord, paper leaflet included

• Condition: Good vintage/secondhand condition. Some soft yellowish tonal variation in the glaze on the lower wall, and a small dark speck. Please see photos for any wear beyond the characteristic crackle.

• Dimensions: (D) 12cm x (H) 7.5 cm