Japanese Glazed Kyo-yaki Tea Bowl Nin'ami Dohachi Edo Period

A Japanese chawan (tea bowl) of Kyo-yaki (Kyoto ware) attributed to Nin'ami Dōhachi, also known as Takahashi Dōhachi (1783–1855). Potted sensitively with thin wall and a perfectly rounded form skirted with a circumventing line in the mid-body and slightly everted upper portion, the bowl was covered entirely in a near black glossy glaze except the short foot ring. On top of the glaze, the artist created a vignette of the silouette of a torii gate half hidden among three trees. The imagery has a blurry dreaming effect, achieved by a negative "cutout" technique where the black glaze was scraped off into the design, which was coated with a thin transparent overglaze for contrast. There is a pressed mark in the base ring that reads "Dohachi" and also another pressed seal mark toward the base that has not yet been identified. Although the work is most likely made by Dohachi, due to the lack of tomobako or supporting document, we attributed this bowl to the artist.
For a black tea bowl with a similar form and negative glaze effect, see The Howard Mansfield Collection, Gift of Howard Mansfield, 1936. Object Number: 36.120.547 in the collection of Metropolitan Musuem of Art NYC.

Nin’ami Dōhachi (1783-1855) is the most celebrated member of the Dōhachi family of potters, who were active in Kyoto for many generations. For his detail biography see Ninnami Dohachi: An Observant and Brilliant Potter. An exhibition of the artist's work held in Suntory Musuem of Art in Japn December 20, 2014, to March 1, 2015.