Tea Ceremony Ceramics: A Short History of the Chawan

The tea ceremony — chado or sado — is one of the most refined ceremonial arts in Japanese culture. Whisking matcha and serving it to a guest. Handed down across centuries as a "way" holding deep spirituality, aesthetics and philosophy within that act.

And at the centre of the tea ceremony sits ceramics.

Every piece used in the practice of tea is more than a tool. Its weight, its texture against the hand, its expression under light, the feel of it at the mouth. All of it is part of the experience of temae, the sequence of movements by which a host prepares and offers tea. To learn about ware in the tea ceremony is to learn Japanese aesthetics itself.

This article explains in detail the main kinds of ceramics used in the tea ceremony, their history, and how to choose them. It is written for anyone interested in tea who would like to collect tea utensils.

Sen no Rikyu and the Ceramic Revolution of Wabi-Cha

The foundation of the aesthetics of tea was laid by the tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522–1591).

Before Rikyu, tea meant displaying luxurious ware imported from China — karamono — as proof of standing. Rikyu rejected this competition in luxury at its root.

What he chose was not imported porcelain but rough Japanese earthenware. A plain Bizen mizusashi (the fresh-water container used to top up the kettle and rinse bowl and whisk), a powerful Shigaraki flower container. Rikyu's wabi-cha created, in a world stripped of everything unnecessary, time spent facing a single bowl of tea.

And the raku tea bowl, which Rikyu produced together with Chojiro — the founder of Raku ware and a Kyoto potter of the time — embodies that spirit most purely. Formed by hand-building without a wheel, fired at low temperature, in black or red. Not a perfect circle, and a form no machine could ever make. That irregularity and presence was placed at the centre of the ritual of tea.

This revolution changed the valuation of japanese ceramics at its root. Ever since, being recognised as a tea utensil has been the highest evaluation japanese pottery can receive.

The Main Ceramics Used in the Tea Ceremony

So what ceramics are used in the tea ceremony?

1. The Chawan — The Bowl at the Centre

The tea bowl sits at the centre of everything in tea. It is no exaggeration to say every other utensil exists to set off this one bowl. Tea bowls divide broadly into two kinds.

• Koicha chawan　The bowl for taking koicha, thick tea kneaded from matcha. Many are deep with a narrow mouth. Since several guests share one bowl in turn, the shape of the rim, the weight and the feel in use are treated as especially important.
• Usucha chawan　The bowl for taking thin whisked matcha. Many are wide-mouthed and shallow. Variation is far broader than in koicha bowls, and distinctive pieces are common.

On Japanese bowl culture and how to choose, the article below covers it too, so do use it as a reference.

• How to Choose a Japanese Rice Bowl (Chawan)

The Ranking of Tea Bowls

The world of tea has a famous phrase ranking tea bowls: "first Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu."

• First, Raku ware　The Kyoto ware, hand-built, that Sen no Rikyu valued above all.
• Second, Hagi ware　The earthenware of Yamaguchi, known for its soft glaze and its "seven changes."
• Third, Karatsu ware　The stoneware of Kyushu, holding the strength of clay and a straightforward beauty.

After these come other kuniyaki (ware from across Japan), then Korean ware (Korai tea bowls and the like), then karamono, Chinese porcelain.

This ranking reflects Rikyu's aesthetics of wabi. Plain Japanese and Korean ware is valued above luxurious Chinese porcelain. This is one of the boldest reversals of value in the history of craft.

Choosing a Tea Bowl by Season

In tea, the shape of the bowl changes with the season. Winter (the ro hearth season, November to April) uses cylindrical, deeper bowls to hold heat. Summer (the furo brazier season, May to October) uses flat, wide bowls to let heat escape.

This consideration reflects the philosophy of tea, which treats a piece not as an artwork but as a tool for optimising an experience.

2. The Mizusashi — Cold Water for the Kettle

The mizusashi holds the cold water used to adjust the temperature of the tea kettle. During temae it holds real presence on the tea tatami.

Mizusashi from a wide range of regions are used — Bizen, Shigaraki, Iga, Kyo ware — but the ones tea masters have prized most are Shigaraki and Iga ware. Their organic, powerful forms and the natural surface effects a wood kiln produces resonate deeply with the aesthetics of wabi.

Even for those who do not practise tea, a mizusashi works directly as a flower container. Its size and the presence of its form mean that one piece in an alcove, an entrance or a living room changes the impression of the space. Lid materials vary — ceramic, lacquer, ivory on older pieces. Choosing a lid is another moment where a tea person's eye is tested.

3. The Chaire — A Small Masterpiece for Thick Tea

The chaire is the small ceramic container in which matcha for koicha is stored and used. Only 5–8cm high, it is nonetheless among the most highly valued pieces in the world of tea.

A chaire is appreciated and used together with the silk pouch that wraps it, the shifuku. The pattern and material of the shifuku is another place a tea person's sense shows.

Historic named chaire receive the highest evaluation among Japanese art crafts, and a masterpiece from the Momoyama period can reach tens or hundreds of millions of yen. Contemporary potters make chaire with high technical skill as well.

4. The Kensui — The Humble Waste-Water Piece

The kensui is the piece into which surplus hot water and water used during temae are discarded.

It is made deliberately plain. If the tea bowl is the aesthetic centre of temae, the kensui is its opposite — practical, unobtrusive. Yet exactly this humility is the aesthetics of the kensui in tea.

In tea, the beautiful and the practical coexist. The kensui carries the practical side while functioning as part of the whole harmony. Materials include stoneware, lacquer and metal (bronze). Forms vary too — cylindrical, shakuhachi, efugo.

5. The Hanaire — A Single Stem in the Alcove

Every tea gathering places a single flower or branch in the alcove. How the flower and the container are chosen is where a tea person's eye shows most.

The ideal flower container for tea is not too showy, and sets off the flower: a single-cut bamboo tube, a small rough ceramic container from Bizen, Shigaraki or Iga, or a plain Shino jar. What is asked for is a relationship in which flower and container converse.

"The season is in the container before it is in the flower" — as the tea saying shows, choosing a flower container is not merely choosing a container but designing season, space and the whole temae as one world.

The Seasons and Tea Utensils

In tea, the utensils change with the season. This is not mere custom but the practice of a philosophy that treasures "this moment."

Mizusashi and flower containers change with the season too. Winter matches the substantial atmosphere of the hearth; summer values cool transparency. Serious tea people gather utensils season by season. The coolness of the celadon so common in summer ware follows the same line of thinking.

Beginning a Collection of Tea Utensils

Even without practising tea, enjoying the beauty of tea utensils and collecting them has real meaning.

• Start from "a bowl you like"　Before worrying about formality or ranking, choose one bowl whose form and surface speak to you. Take it in hand and check the weight and the feel of the rim. It begins from that relationship.
• Use the bowl　Tea bowls are made to be used. Even without practising tea, fill one with hot water or soup and hold it wrapped in both hands. A relationship with a piece is born through using it.
• Know the maker　Every bowl has a background. Which region, which maker, which clay and glaze. Knowing that story deepens your understanding of the piece considerably.
• Attend a tea gathering once　Tea utensils live within a context. Experiencing how a piece is used at an actual gathering changes how you see ware you had regarded as a static collection.

Famous Bowls: Legends of Tea History

In the history of tea, certain bowls were given names of their own, and are preserved to this day as National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.

Yohen tenmoku was made in Southern Song China (12th–13th century) and crossed to Japan; it is regarded as the finest of all tenmoku bowls. Star-shaped spots on a deep black ground shine iridescent under light — a mysterious beauty that earned it the name "first bowl under heaven." Only three survive in the world, all in Japan (the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, the Fujita Museum, and Ryoko-in at Daitoku-ji).

The early raku bowls Sen no Rikyu and Chojiro produced together are also preserved in museums as ware embodying the purest wabi aesthetics.

These named pieces cannot be bought, but they can be seen in museums. Learning the beauty of genuine tea utensils with your own eyes is the best way to train a collector's eye.

Face a Single Bowl, and Bring a Moment of Quiet Into Daily Life

In the world of tea, ceramics are not simply containers for making matcha. They are the leading players, carrying the host's feeling toward the guest and bringing space, season and every sense — touch, the feel at the mouth — into harmony. Just as Sen no Rikyu overturned the worship of splendid Chinese ware and found beauty in imperfect, plain Japanese clay, tea utensils hold an essential richness that lies beyond stripping away the unnecessary.

Tea utensils, for all that spirituality, are by no means confined to a forbidding hobby or the world of museums. Before being bound by formality and etiquette, get hold of one bowl that speaks to you. Then, in a quiet morning hour, wrap its warmth in both hands, or set a single favourite flower in it. At that moment, the same crisp, pleasant quiet as a tea room begins to flow through your day.

The traces of a foot ring a maker cut with their soul in it; the unrepeatable keshiki flame drew inside the kiln. Unravelling those stories while collecting one favourite at a time is an experience that will enrich your eye. Do bring Japanese tea utensils, in which centuries of history and craft skill are concentrated, into your life, and enjoy meeting a piece that will stay with you for good.

At Nokaze you can look for tea bowls by makers from Kyoto, Hagi, Bizen, Shigaraki and other regions. Do take one in hand and enjoy it.

• Bowls, Teapots, and Teacups | Handcrafted Tableware to Enrich Your Tea Time

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