RAKU WARE

Raku wares were first made by Chōjirō during the Momoyama period (1573-1615) and have been produced since then for nearly 450 years. Jikinyū is the name assumed by the 15^th generation Kichizaemon when he retired from the Raku family headship in 2019. He continues today to explore through the making of tea bowls his unique creative vision.

One can see in this exhibition Black Raku and Red Raku tea bowls made by Jikinyū in the spirit of the tradition pioneered by Chōjirō in response to the tea master Sen Rikyū’s search for tea bowls manifesting the principles of wabi style chanoyu. One can also see new kinds of tea bowls born out of and inspired by collaborations with potter friends.

One of these collaborations was with the French potter Andoche Praudel, with whom Jikinyū spent several weeks each summer between 2007 and 2010 using the materials, tools and kilns available in Andoche’s studio. One outcome was his series of ‘French Raku’ tea bowls. In 2014 he collaborated with Hagi’s 15^th generation Sakakura Shinbei (now Sakakura Ikkei) in an exchange of forming techniques through which he learnt how to throw on the potter’s wheel. He enjoyed this so much that he later held an exhibition of wheel-thrown tea bowls. Each of the bowls was uniquely different in terms of shape, manner of forming and how they were glazed. Our hope is that visitors to the exhibition will gain an understanding of Jikinyū’s always lively inquisitiveness, his highly evolved aesthetic sense, and the spirit of freedom and enjoyment he brings to working with clay.