Raku ware is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally used in the tea bowls of Chawan, the formal tea ceremony that took place in purpose-designed “tea houses” (chashitsu). These were designed to humble those taking part. Guests must crawl through its square nijiriguchi door (“crawling-in entrance”), in particular. The inside is austere; no furniture (just tatami mats) and only the beauty of the tea utensils and a small, informal flower display (chabana, a ‘thrown together’ grouping, decidedly not formal ikebana.). The chawan tea ceremony resembles a kind of religious “liturgy” of Zen, bringing into play all the major ingredients of Zen principles.
A raku tea bowl is not usually shaped on a potting wheel and thus is intentionally hand shaped and rustic looking, an appearance first modeled after rough hand-made ceramic tiles on the roofs of houses. Raku results from low firing temperatures. Inner surfaces need to be glazed to hold liquid. Glazes are also used to add color and suggest a mottled-looking surface texture. The piece is removed from the kiln while still glowing hot and allowed to cool directly in the open air, not in the kiln; the result is typically Japanese. Oddly, the rustic “look” of raku ware is akin to many contemporary ceramic works around the world, but it can have a smooth glaze as well.
In time, however, techniques have also been modified by contemporary ceramists worldwide. Raku is a family name even today, and raku antiques are rare and expensive, especially tea bowls. The collection has several contemporary tea bowl. A contemporary technique brings horse hair in contact with the still hot glaze just removed from the kiln, giving a very random and natural linear pattern. Modern raku is often both rustic and somehow still modern.
