Matcha Chawan (Small)— Blue-White Opalescent Glaze, Iron Clay, Pinched Triangular Rim

This hand-shaped matcha bowl (chawan) combines a coarse, dark iron-rich clay with a flowing blue-white glaze. The clay is gritty and full of small stone and grog particles. Where the glaze thins over this rough body, the dark clay breaks through in countless small specks, creating a mottled, starry surface that shifts between deep brown, slate blue and misty white. Where the glaze runs thicker, it pools into soft opalescent blue, an effect produced when certain glazes over iron-bearing clay separate and scatter light during firing.

The form was thrown on the wheel and then reshaped by hand. The rim has been pressed into a soft, rounded triangle, with one corner drawn out into a pointed lip that can double as a pouring spout. The walls are pinched in around the middle and swell out below, and the hand-pressed indentations give each side of the bowl a different profile and make it comfortable to grip.

Inside, the glaze is lighter and more luminous, a pale bluish white streaked with fine brown speckles. In the well (chadamari), the throwing spiral shows through as rings of exposed dark clay, drawing the eye to the centre.

Details:

• Origin: Japanese studio pottery (kiln/maker unconfirmed; potter's mark on the base. Let me know if you know the kiln or have a box)

• Form: Matcha chawan, pinched walls with a soft triangular rim and a pointed pouring lip

• Clay: Coarse iron-rich stoneware with visible grit, reddish-brown where unglazed

• Glaze: Blue-white opalescent glaze, speckled where the dark clay breaks through; lighter and more luminous inside

• Decoration: No applied motif; character comes from the hand-shaped form and glaze movement

• Base: Unglazed trimmed foot with potter's mark in the centre

• Condition: Good secondhand condition. Specks, grit and small irregularities in the glaze are part of the clay and firing. Please see photos for any chips or wear

• Quantity: Single chawan only. The chasen (bamboo whisk) is shown for scale and styling and is not included

• Dimensions: (Ø) approx. 8.8-10cm x (H) approx. 6.8cm