Vintage Japanese Chawan Kiri Wood Box Tea Ceremony Bowl Ceramic 4.5" Shino

This is a Vintage Japanese hand built Shino ware chawan.

Height: 3.25"
Diameter: 4.5"

Seasonal Use: Winter (thick, straight-sided)

Type: Shino ware – U-no-hana-gaki copy (写)

Kiln: 菊泉窯 (Kikusen-gama)

Clay: Mino clay (porous, feldspathic) typical of Shino

Glaze: Classic feldspar-based white Shino glaze with iron brush decoration and fire marks

Motif: Shinto Torii gate on the front and grass fence on the back, implying the matcha in the middle is “sacred” or “in the realm of the gods”

Name: 卯花墻写 (U-no-hana-gaki utsushi)

Artist: 涌泉 (Yūsen)

Box Signed By: The same (noted with 造 = “made by”)

---

Detail

Box Reads: 卯花墻写 志野茶碗

卯花墻写 (U-no-hana-gaki utsushi) = “Copy of U-no-hana-gaki”
This refers to the famous U-no-hana-gaki chawan — a National Treasure originally made by Hon’ami Kōetsu. It is a well-known Shino tea bowl with crosshatch markings.

志野茶碗 (Shino chawan) = “Shino tea bowl”

The bowl is intentionally made as a tribute/reproduction of the U-no-hana-gaki Shino bowl. That explains the grid-like brush marks and glaze style.

Signature and Seal: 菊泉窯 涌泉造

Kikusen-gama (菊泉窯): “Kikusen kiln”

Yūsen-zō (涌泉造): “Made by Yūsen”

Seal: Confirms the artist’s name — the characters on the red seal match 涌泉 (Yūsen) and likely 菊泉 (Kikusen), stylized.

The artist is Yūsen, working out of the Kikusen kiln, and they created this as a homage to the legendary U-no-hana-gaki chawan.

This is a vintage Japanese Showa era hand made chawan with original kiri wood presentation box.