Description
Shiroraku Eto Uma Chawan, White Raku Horse Tea Bowl; by Waraku Kiln, Kawasaki Motoo, the 8th generation potter of the Waraku Kiln in Kyoto. Vintage, probably for the 2002 Year of the Horse. "Eto" Chawan are decorated with the upcoming year corresponding with the animals of the Asian Zodiac. This pedestal-foot chawan is decorated with a painting of "mokuba" (wooden horse) used as a child's toy. The pedestal could make this resemble a "bajyohai" chawan (tea bowl used while riding on horseback), which usually have a slightly longer foot, giving it a second horse reference. With signed wooden box. "WaRaku" kiln stamp on the side of the bowl above the foot. H. 3.375"(8.5cm) x Dia. 4.875"(12.5cm). Weight 285 grams.
The Raku Studio "Waraku" began at the end of the Edo Period (1600-1868) as a tea house named "Tanzakuya" in front of Yasaka Shrine in the Gion District of Kyoto. The owner, Shichizaemon, began making daily use pottery such as tea cups, sake cups, and tea pots. The second generation owner, Shichibei, began the study and making of Raku ware as well as the production of tea bowls for Chado (The Way of Tea). In 1918, during the third and fourth generation of the family, Tanzakuya was visited by Togo Heihachiro of the Imperial Navy and the name of "Waraku" to the shop. Since the fourth generation owner, Kawasaki Shoshichi, the kiln has carried this name.
The eighth, and current, kiln head is Kawasaki Motoo. Born in Kyoto in 1972, and watching his father run the pottery throughout his youth, Motoo initially took another path. He graduated from university with a degree in nuclear physics and worked as an engineer at a thermal plant in Tokyo for eight years, six of those where overseas projects took him abroad to several countries. In 2007, he made the decision to return to his pottery roots and studied ceramics at the Kyoto Industrial Research Institute, and then at the Kyoto Prefectural School of Ceramics. The following year, he rejoined the family kiln and in 2016 accepted the mantle as the 8th Generation Kiln Head, succeeding his father who was the Kiln master for 47 years. Motoo's focus is now on one-of-a-kind Raku Tea Bowls, and wares for sake and kaiseki food service.