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Just received it and didn’t expect the glaze to feel rough to the touch! Is this normal guys? Worried about any chemicals or iron content not being the best thing to consume!!! I was expecting an almost glass like feel.
...and if anyone could recommend more authentic sources that can be sourced. Some pics posted looks pretty awesome
cool cup. i think it looks nice.
rough is OK.
not trying to be too cheeky, but arguably there is no authentic jian aside from originals. it's a lost art, and everything contemporary is attempted reverse-engineering or, more commonly, modern techniques made to visually mimic certain original jianware features.
i say attempted reverse-engineering and reproduction is far less common because of the effort and expense involved. your cup was probably made in an electric kiln with modern techniques that give good consistency, good predictability, and low failure rates.
Just received it and didn’t expect the glaze to feel rough to the touch! Is this normal guys? Worried about any chemicals or iron content not being the best thing to consume!!! I was expecting an almost glass like feel.
They are not silky smooth, but the roughness is very minor, and never feels sharp or irritating, not like sandpaper, but the texture is interesting, and this Suzuki iron glaze guinomi (I do not have good closeups of modern Jian-style cups posted, but the textures are similar if not quite the same):
Got myself a Tenmoku Chawan by Takeshi Furukawa. Unfortunately, he was apparently killed just a while back... I shall make sure that his work lives on. The bowl is 12cm wide and 7cm high.
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Credits for the pictures belong to Ken Ushijima. I have his permission to use them.
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:20 am
by Bok
What the… that’s like a crazy Japanese movie!
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 6:21 pm
by LeoFox
Wow so much drama! Seems he was married and the murderer was his apprentice. They were having an affair.
I cant tell. My parents picked them up a few years ago in China. I thought they were a lot more expensive.
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:05 am
by wave_code
While most of the glazes aren't my style, I have become kinda interested in these lately. I'm curious about the effect of the iron heavy glaze on the tea, plus a lot of the smaller/mid size ones just have such a nice shape/size for big cup one person drinking, or if it wouldn't be so different than using another iron heavy clay like Banko. Here is a five part video series with a Malaysian collector, and it seems also maybe vendor, talking about Tenmoku and Jian cups, and there are some tips in there on identifying obvious fakes based on certain colors and appearance under bright light. I can't vouch for anything the person says obviously, but also you probably get more out of this if you don't have to use youtube's auto-translated English captioning-
I do not agree with use of the word "garbage" here. These are pretty cups. I am very fond of Tenmoku glazes in general, with their blending of colors ranging from wide rivulets to pointilist patterns. They may not have a famous artisan's name attached, and their workmanship may not have the touches of the living treasure's hand we prize in other pieces, but they are pleasing to look at, could hold fine tea more than adequately, and I would be happy to drink out of them.
I do not agree with use of the word "garbage" here. These are pretty cups...
+1, debunix; however, Leo's use of the word "garbage" provoked discussion which is not easy to do. So +1 to Leo also.
These pieces are not rare. Seen for the first time & not among dozens of same pattern & colors with many other colors (totaling hundreds) they did seem special to me; but, I did not pay the "tourist" price. Years later I paid about US$1 for some in Chiangmai, Thailand.
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 12:08 pm
by LeoFox
Hahaha, I'm glad it provoked some conversation! Point I wanted to make also was that those 30$ "cheapo" ones on amazon may actually be much cheaper than one may realize.
I did try drinking tea from them side by side with porcelain. One of them was quite a bite muting.
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:49 am
by teatray
Sake cup by Yoshinori Izumi, similar to @pedant's (whose post inspired the purchase via a proxy shopping service suggested by @Darbotek). My most treasured tea cup.
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:11 pm
by teatray
Here are the classic styles of Tenmoku with surviving Song dynasty examples. These are not necessarily all Jian ware; some are Henan / Jizhou ware. (Check out this useful description/classification.) Apparently, some styles, such as "partridge feathers" (Chinese: 雪鷓鴣盞), are only known from writings, so it's not sure which surviving examples (if any) they refer to.
Yohen
Kiln-changed / Yohen / 燿変
There are two more spotted Jian glazes - one is known as Yohen, literally ‘brilliant [kiln] transmutation’ in Japanese, and in Chinese Yaobian. In this glaze effect the spots themselves are dark but have iridescent halos. (Christies lot description)
A type of Tenmoku fired at the Jian kilns in Fujian province during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) in China. It is considered to be the finest example of Tenmoku, with a glossy jet black glazed tea bowl with silvery flecks like stars surrounded by blue and iridescent light. Only three bowls meet the definition of true Yohen Tenmoku: one in the collection of Seikado Bunko Art Museum (commonly known as Inaba Tenmoku), one in the collection of Fujita Museum, and one in the collection of Ryuko-in, Daitokuji Temple. All three are considered national treasures of Japan. (kogeistandard)
Photos of the only three surviving:
Seikado Bunko (the most famous, known as the Inaba Tenmoku) | inaba1 | inaba2 (scroll down a bit)
A type of Tenmoku fired at the Jian kilns in Fujian province during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) in China. Gold and silver flecks like drops of oil appear on the jet-black glaze, with many of them spread over the entire surface of both the interior and exterior of the tea bowl. In addition to the Jian kiln, tea bowls were also fired at the Cizhou kilns in Hebei province during the Song and Yuan dynasties (1271-1367). (kogeistandard)
A type of Tenmoku fired at the Jian kilns in Fujian Province during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) in China. Crystals of iron oxide contained in the glaze melted in the kiln and flowed down, forming fine linear patterns. In Japan it is called “Nogi-me” (ears of rice), while in China it is known as “Tu-hao” (rabbit’s hair brush). (kogeistandard)
Hare's fur is also used to describe some Jizhou ware Tenmoku.
Notes
1) These descriptions are not necessarily exclusive of each other. Modern imitations sometimes combine styles, e.g. pieces named Yohen taihi by Kaneko Haruhiko or Yohen yuteki by Kamata Koji.
2) There may be one or more later, arguably still "classic", styles of Tenmoku, developed in Japan. The one I read about is Edo-period Shiro Tenmoku / White Tenmoku (here's a 3D model of a replica). Not sure why it's supposed to be Tenmoku.
3) This is just my research on a recent interest & unfortunately I don't speak Chinese or Japanese. Stuff might be wrong. Any corrections would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Tenmoku & Jian Bowls
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:05 am
by Iizuki
Thanks for the informative post @teatray! The examples are a really nice inclusion.
