The Kizaemon Tea bowl is regarded as the most prominent in the world. It is an inconspicuous brown bowl that is damaged by firing, fragmented and repaired, stained through long usage and made in Korea which eventually ended up being universally accepted in Japan to be a masterpiece in chanoyu ceramics. This bowl was made out of Korean intellectual curiosity. The artistic traits and qualities of the Tea-bowl belong to nature originally that is instituted in their perception.
The bowl’s reputation was accredited officially at the point the Japanese government devoted Kizaemon Tea-bowl as a National Treasure. In striving to get an understanding of Kizaemon Tea-bowls status, it is significant to remember that in the course of the formative period when chanoyu aesthetic occurred, straddling precisely 100 years from the late 15th century to the late 16th century, there was no popular artist potter working in Japan.
The Kizaemon tea-bowl is believed to have been created to be used as a disposable rice bowl, which was to be loaded up and utilized and eventually disposed of casually. Currently, it is Japan’s National Treasure; it is a bowl that is essentially the archetypal vessel for tea ceremonies. With the expansion of Japan trade relation in Asia during the 16th century, the Korean ceramics and ceramics from Southeastern Asia began to reach Japan and ended up finding a place in chanoyu. These ceramics from Korea and Southeast Asia caused a major shift in Japanese ceramics market. Literally, Kizaemon tea-bowl originated from this period. Out of the eight tea bowls that were devoted to being a national treasure, Kizaemon Tea-bowl was the only bowl that was designed in a unique ido style.
Way of Craftsmanship
Craftsmanship entails possession of a precise skill in a certain craft. To begin with, crafts are things that are designed to be utilized by people in their day to day life. Crafts are designed by artists to be beautiful, interesting and attractive. In essence, the beauty of craftsmanship is identified in its use. Craftsmanship focuses on the beauty and impression of the audiences, therefore to meet the quality of beauty crafts artists have to consider the utility of the craft. Utility goes hand in hand with beauty. According to craftsmanship, use should not be understood in form of its materialistic nature but instead, it should be understood in based on its convenience. Craftsmanship is about an integration of both the mind and matter. Mind and matter should not be taken as separate as they both coordinate to bring out the best beauty of a craft. Use and utility is the outcome out of this.
To determine the convenience of craft objects, it can be determined by looking at them and feeling them. The responsive feeling of pleasure of use can be felt through the touching and seeing. Actually, suppose crafts are made from a utilitarian perspective, therefore, a pattern is not required. However, pattern contributes to the beauty and usefulness of an artifact. A pattern is an indispensable part of use for a craft object. However, in craftsmanship, the usefulness and significance of a craft can be, suppose it inflicts a sense of ugliness, it ends up detracting from total service. Essentially, the goal of craftsmanship is to satisfy the demand for beauty and convenience and to meet the use of the crafted object. Therefore, mind and matter should not be separated when making craft objects.