valuable for the Western potter to
understand and assimilate.
The traditional raku tea bowl is
handmade from a rough, gritty clay,
yet when completed, is pleasant
to the touch. A summer tea bowl is
shallow and wide, while a winter tea
bowl is taller and narrower. For its
size, it is thick but not heavy. It is
asymmetrical; the rim undulates.
There is a front and a back. The base
rim (foot) must be so shaped that
the bowl is easily picked up by the
thumb and two fingers. The bottom
inside must have a depression called
a cha damari, or tea pool, where the
last few drops of tea will look like
rain collecting in a depressed rock
(the potter consciously puts the cha
damari there, yet it is supposed to
look like it just sort of happened).
The bowl must be larger at the lower
belly to allow room for the whisk.
And, finally, the inside must appear
larger than the outside!
Once, when discussing these aspects
with a Japanese raku potter,
I remarked, “You know, is this rationalizing?
I wonder if this isn’t all a
lot of hogwash.”
To which he replied, “Now you’re
getting into Zen.”