Raku Pottery: Everything You Need to Know

by Anne Walther | CRAFT

Yokoku, tea bowl with black glaze named by Raku Kichizaemon XV, 1989, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo — *Yokoku*, tea bowl with black glaze named by Raku Kichizaemon XV, 1989, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies, rakuware (楽焼, raku-yaki) is a famous type of Japanese pottery. This art form was highly appreciated by tea masters for the purity and unpretentiousness of the objects, especially chawan tea bowls. With a history stretching back to 1580, rakuware remains today the most sought after of Japanese ceramics, and an unparalleled example of wabi-sabi aesthetics. We take a look at 10 masterpieces of Japanese rakuware to discover what makes them so appealing!

What is Raku Pottery?

Rakuware Matcha Bowl Set, available at Japan Objects Store

Typical examples of rakuware are hand-sculpted (rather than thrown on a potter’s wheel) lightweight porous vessels adorned with lead glazes.

Raku chawan tea bowls are molded using the tezukune technique, with the palms of the hand: clay is shaped into a dense, flat circle and built up by compressing between the palms. When dry enough, the rough and imperfect clay is trimmed with an iron or bamboo scraper and covered with an opaque glaze.

Earthenware Bowl with Black Raku Glaze, Kyoto Kenzan II, Smithsonian

In the traditional Japanese method, the sculpted object is briefly fired at low temperature, taken out from the hot kiln at the peak of the firing, and allowed to cool in the open air. Rakuware could be fired in small, indoor kilns, which contributed to its popularity in the city of Kyoto, an important tea center.

Japanese raku bears no relationship to the Western raku technique. The firings are low temperature (approximately 900–1200°F or 500–650°C) and the kiln is charcoal-fueled.

You don’t have to be in Japan to buy an authentic Rakuware bowl for yourself. At Japan Objects Store, we work with some of the finest artisans and kilns from Kyoto to bring you handcrafted matcha bowls that you will treasure for years to come!

1. Tea Bowl with Black Glaze by Chojiro

Tea bowl with black glaze by Chojiro, late 16th century, Tokyo National Museum

Raku tea bowls were initiated by the famous potter Tanaka Chojiro (1516–1592), the founding father of the Raku family. Historical evidence shows that Chojiro manufactured ridge tiles for shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi's palace in 1574.

Jurakudai Palace, Detail of a folding screen, 1650, Mitsui Memorial Museum

It is recorded that in 1584, Hideyoshi presented him with a seal inscribed with the character 楽, raku, meaning enjoyment, pleasure, happiness, contentment, comfort. "Raku" was then accepted as a new addition to Chojiro’s family name. In Japanese ceramics, raku ceramcs were the first to use a seal mark and the first to focus on a close partnership between potter and patron.

2. Tea Bowl with Black Glaze Attributed to Chojiro

Tea bowl with black glaze attributed to Chojiro, early 17th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Chojiro also worked for the tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) and created tea bowls to be used in chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. These chawan attracted attention for their refinement and pure beauty. Chawan remain a popular form of artist expression today. Check out these 5 Extraordinary Tea Bowls for more works of ceramic art.

3. Tea Bowl with Dark Glaze by Chojiro

Tea Bowl with Dark Glaze by Chojiro, late 16th century, MOA Museum of Art, Atami

The chawan created by Chojiro, the first-generation head of the Raku potter family, marked a strong contrast with the tradition of fine ceramics. They seem to lack decoration or elegance of form. The artist’s goal was to create bowls which would nestle in the palms of the drinker’s hands.

4. Tea Bowl with Red Glaze by Chojiro

Muichibutsu (Nothing), tea bowl with red glaze named by Chojiro, late 16th century, Collection of the Egawa Museum of Art — *Muichibutsu* (Nothing), tea bowl with red glaze named by Chojiro, late 16th century, Collection of the Egawa Museum of Art

Tanaka Chojiro created bowls that were simple and without ornament, either entirely red or entirely black glazed soft pottery, which were meant to reflect the ideals of wabi (beauty in simplicity and sobriety). Nowadays, the black bowls are individually fired in a small kiln within a saggar, buried under burning charcoal; the red bowls, three or four at a time, are fired in a larger kiln operated externally.

A kiln firing starts at midnight and continues for 18 hours. Raku tea bowls are then exposed to variables elements in the natural state of the firing. Everything is entrusted to the power of nature, highly present in Japanese culture.

Raku pottery is closely associated with the philosophy of wabi-cha, the frugal and minimalistic tea ceremony which arose in the extravagant Momoyama period (1568–1603). If you want to learn more about the elegant utensils used in chanoyu, you may want to check out Master Crafts of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

5. Tea Bowl with Black Glaze Attributed to Raku Sonyu V

Tea bowl with black glaze attributed to Raku Sonyu V, early 17th century, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Chojiro's adopted son, Jokei, followed in his father's footsteps, and was allowed to affix the term raku to his name in recognition of his skills. This moment marked the beginning of the use of the raku style in Japanese pottery.

Raku Sonyu (1664-1716) was the fifth-generation head of the Kyoto-based Raku family. With its characteristic matte black glaze, this tea bowl is reminiscent of the work of Chojiro.

The personal trimming and glazing techniques can be identified in the work of each of the following fifteen generations of Raku ceramic masters. Each generation also marked their creations with a personal seal.

6. Tea Bowl of Red Earthenware with Clear Glaze by Raku Chonyu VII

Tea bowl made of red earthenware with clear glaze by Raku Chonyu VII, 1730-60, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Raku Chonyu (1714-1770) was the seventh-generation leader of the Raku family. The raku name and the raku ceramic style have been passed down through the family, sometimes by adoption. The red color of this tea bowl evokes the earlier work of Chojiro.

Red bowls are not covered by a red glaze: their red hue comes from the actual color of the clay itself. The iron in the clay oxidizes during firing, making the finished tea bowls turn red. That simple expression of the clay is highly linked to the wabi spirit.

7. Tea Bowl with Golden Decoration Attributed to Raku Tannyu X

Tea bowl made of earthenware with red and green glazes and decoration in gold, attributed to Raku Tannyu X, 1795-1854, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Partly covered with colored glazes and incised with golden foliage, this earthenware tea bowl is a rare ornated example from the Edo period. It is believed to be the work of Raku Tannyu, the 10th generation head of the family.

8. Tea Bowl with Black Glaze by Raku Seinyu XIII

Yachiyo, tea bowl with black glaze by Raku Seinyu XIII, 20th century. Photo by Masayuki Miyahara. Raku Museum, Kyoto — *Yachiyo*, tea bowl with black glaze by Raku Seinyu XIII, 20th century. Photo by Masayuki Miyahara. Raku Museum, Kyoto

Raku Seinyu XIII (1887-1944) was the thirteenth-generation ceramic master who lead the Raku family through some wide-ranging changes in Japanese society. He researched techniques and glazes more than any of his ancestors. Between 1935 and 1945, he even published his results in a magazine named Sado Seseragi.

Raku pottery has become highly influential in Japanese culture and throughout the world. The methods of production used by the Raku family today are essentially the same as those employed by Chojiro.

9. Tea Bowl with Black Glaze by Raku Kichizaemon XV

Tea bowl with black glaze by Raku Kichizaemon XV, 2012. Collection of National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

The Raku family is still active today into the fifteenth generation. Director and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Raku Museum, Kyoto, Raku Kichizaemon (1949-), is a winner of numerous awards, including the Japan Ceramic Society’s Gold Prize and the French Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also designed his own gallery and tea house for the Sagawa Art Museum.

10. Tea Bowl with Black Glaze by Raku Kichizaemon XV

This striking chawan by the current head of the Raku family, Raku Kichizaemon XV, is named Yokoku, and was displayed during the exhibition The Cosmos in a Tea Bowl: Transmitting a Secret Art Across Generations of the Raku Family, at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.

A yakinuki bowl is created with a firing technique developed by a former member of the Raku family, Raku Ichinyū IV. It involves direct exposure to red hot flames or coals inside the kiln. The sides of this bowl are also sharply cut with a spatula and can be rough to the touch.

The traditional Raku process is believed to reflect enlightened life, as the firing process is demanding, and the pottery is derived from the earth. All four elements are employed in the process of the pottery making: fire and earth as previously mentioned; water is used during the forming process to keep the clay damp, and after firing the piece cools in the air.

As Raku Kichizaemon says, a tea bowl interior is “a universe held in the palms of our hands.”