Konoha-Tenmoku is a pattern created by attaching leaves directly to the glaze on a piece of pottery prior to firing.
In the kiln,the leaves turn to ash which melts into the glaze and creates pattern.In other words,the leaves become fused with the glaze and a pattern emerges in the glaze.If leaves are pressed onto a piece of pottery and an impression of the veins of the leaves remains or if a different glaze is applied to the leaves and used to give a similar effect,the resulting pattern is not refered to as Konoha-Tenmoku.
The word 'Tenmoku' in Konoha-Tenmoku comes from the mountain of the same name in the north-east of Fukien Province where an envoy,sent from Japan during the Tung dynasty,entered a monastery to study, On his return to Japan,he took with him some Buddhist altar items which consisted of tea bowls and the glaze used in the making of the bowls.The word 'Tenmoku' is used in Japan in terms such as 'Tenmoku-jawan'(a tea bowl) and 'Kuro-tenmoku-yu'(a black glaze).The term 'Konoha-Tenmoku' refers to the Konoha-Tenmoku technique itself or a Konoha-Tenmoku-style tea bowl.
Tenmoku glaze basically consists of a mixture of feldspar and charcoal with the addition og iron rust as a color former.
The glaze may be a blackish brown color or amber but generally it is a deep black.
In China,it is called black glaze but,in Japan,we call it black Tenmoku glaze.
In the Sung period in China,black tea bowls were generally used in tea competitions held by the royal family and the aristocracy and black glaze was used in the making of Konoha-Tenmoku teabowls.
Konoha-Tenmoku teabowls are also called black-glazed leaf-patterned tea bowls(Kuro-yu Yomon San).
Konoha-Tenmoku ware made for use as tea bowls at the Ji-Zheu pottery in Jang-Xi Province in the Sung period. However,the technique perished with the fall of the dynasty and it has been lost ever since. In the latter half of the Northern Sung Dynasty(in the 12th century),records of tea paties referring to the use of Konoha-Tenmoku-like tea bowls exist. However,there is absolutely no literature or data relating to the manufacturing process or the technique and very few excavated items exist.
When the Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition(the Ataka Collection,currently stored in the Toyo Gallery of Ceramic Art) was held in Tokyo in September,1975,the potter Katsuhisa Yasuda was profoundly impressed by the Konoha-Tenmoku tea bowls designated as Important Cultural Treasures which were on display and immediately decided to start studying the possibilities of reviving the technique.
Four years later,in 1979,the potter Morikazu Kimura succeeded in re-creating the technique and,approximately one year later,in January 1980,Katsuhisa Yasuda succeeded in re-creating the technique by himself.
In the autumn of 1981,he established the technology for the glazing large numbers of leaves onto tea bowls.
In the autumn of 1982,he succeeded in glazing the veins of leaves with unparalleled intricacy.
In the autumn of 1984,he developed a technique for adding shading to a large number of leaves in the glazing process.
In the autumn of 1994,he perfected the technique of creating an amber color using leaves in the glazing process.
In the autumn of 1995,he virtually perfected the process of glazing leaves onto a three-dimensional vertical surface(on the side of a pot).
Since 1982,he has made unrivalled progress in the field of Konoha-Tenmoku technology and the following is a list of his achievements as a potter.
November,1990 At the invitation of the Vice-Chairman Mr.Gu Xiao of the Committee for China Art and Craft,
he visited the porcelain industry zone in the south of Chang-diang.
November,1994 Received the Grand Prize of the Tsuchiya Cultural Promotion Foundation.
May,June,1995 Held the 'Konoha-Tenmoku Special Exhibition' at the Ichikawa City Culture Hall with the assistance of the Ichikawa City Education Committee and the Tsuchiya Cultural Promotion Foundation.
March,1996 Held the 'Konoha Tenmoku Exhibition' at the National Dr.Sun Yat-sen Memoorial Hall under the joint auspices of the Taiwan National Dr.Sun Yat-sen Memarial Hall and the Chinese Science and Culture Foundation.
March,1996 Permanent acquisition of th Konoha-Tenmoku Platter 'Koten 1' by the Taiwan National Dr.Sun Yat-sen Memarial Hall
Return to Home