Description
Kyo-yaki Tea Bowl (Matcha Chawan) with overglaze enamel painting of Dragon for 2024, The Year of the Dragon, by Kyoto potter Kiraku Kato. H. 3"(7.5cm) X Dia. 4.5"(11.5cm), weight 190 grams. Comes with signed wooden box. The dragon is expertly in green, yellow, and red overglaze enamels, over a white glazed and white clay body. The head and body decorate the exterior of the bowl, while a bit of the tail decorates the interior opposite side of the bowl. The potter's kiln stamp (Yuraku) appears on the bottom of the bowl outside of the foot ring.
Kiraku Kato (Kato Kiraku in Japanese style of family name first) was born in Kyoto in 1975 (Showa 50). He studied at Kyoto Prefectural Ceramics Techinical Institute in 1998-1999 and in 2000 moved to the Kyoto City Industrial Ceramics Research Center where he studied under Ito Shouhou II, who was a well-known Kiyomizu-yaki potter. It was here that he learned the use of vibrant colors. In 2002, he began an apprenticeship under Tanaka Koizumi, and in 2003 began working at Josui Togaen, under the Kiyomizu-yaki potter Kato Josui. In 2022, he opened his own kiln, Yurakugama.