I just wanted to share the name of a potter that I love from Bristol, England named Victor Harris. His studio is called ErinStudioCeramics and he has an Etsy page with his bowls for sale. His was one of the very first Chawan that I paid actual money for (as in it wasn’t just a cereal bowl) but his items are so worth it.
Seriously, Look at this tea bowl!
Erin pottery was established in 1998 and produced unique hand made Bonsai pots. Their Bonsai pots are now sold world wide. He just took his love of Bonsai a bit further and branched out to making Chawan. They are some of the most beautiful pieces that I have ever seen. They are definitely made in the spirit of Wabi Sabi, which is a Japanese concept of beauty in imperfection.
He doesn’t make a whole lot of them so if you do see one that you are interested in I’d recommend that you pull the trigger right away. (They are usually around $40 with a bunch of shipping from the UK tacked on of course.) Check and double check the measurements so that you are certain it is the right size for you. Some of his pieces are deceptively small. The very first one that I ordered I really only use to hold my Chashaku. Please note however that they are quite HEAVY. They utilize some kind of stoneware that is extremely rugged and dense.
Here’s what Victor had to say about this gorgeous Chawan:
Stoneware tea bowl / Chawan.
This bowl was built using the pinching method and was fired 6 times adding new layers of colour, character and patina to the glaze and clay with each firing. This bowl is glazed right down to the base of the kodai / foot. The very base of the kodai is unglazed and shows an aged patina. The glaze ranges through a wide range of colours including blue, red, beige and pink. The bowl sits comfortably in the hand. This bowl has very authentic patina to the areas of unglazed clay and has a very Wabi Sabi feel to the design.
The bowl is equally suited for tea ceremony enthusiasts or the collector of wabi ceramics.
This bowl measures 4.25″ x 3.75″ ( 11 cm x 9.5cm ) approximately.
All of my glazes are:
* Lead & Cadmium -Free
* Microwave Safe
* Dishwasher Safe
* Oven Safe
*Food Safe
Note how durable and safe his work is. With even the very best $33,000 Raku bowls made by famous master potters in Japan, the very nature of the process to kiln Raku utilizes lead and other potentially toxic materials in the glaze meaning that for anything other than tea, you have to be super cautious about the toxicity of the glaze. The standard recommendation with using a traditionally fired piece is to never use it for anything other than tea. Tea being alkaline in nature will not leach any harmful substances out of the glaze. So, no tomato soup, no beer, no wine, wash by hand, and for God’s sake…no diet Coke.
As for Erin Pottery, you need not worry about anything harmful in the Chawan, except of course ordering 4 or five at once and draining your paypal account.