Cylindrical Tea Bowl with Grass Design

Formed like a large, vertically shaped tea‐cup, the exterior of the box for this bowl is inscribed “E‐garatsu Tsutsu Jawan" and the work was probably used as a preparatory tea bowl for the tea ceremony, The rim is slightly everted, and the foot has been powerfully carved. The bowl is off‐balance to the side, but this irregularity gives the overall bowl a splendid air of living movement. Grasses have been drawn in abbreviated brush strokes in three places on the bowl's torso, and this little bowl would have given many hours of pleasure to its user.