The Japanese rice bowl, chawan or gohan-chawan, is the most personal piece on a Japanese table. It is lifted and held in one hand while eating, so its weight, shape and the feel of its foot ring matter as much as its decoration. Traditionally, each person has a rice bowl that is theirs alone.
The rice bowls in this collection are handmade in Japan, most of them in Arita porcelain, the first porcelain produced in Japan. Shinemon Kiln offers kiln-changed glazes such as Ginga and silver oil-spot tenmoku; Gagyu Kiln paints egrets, moon rabbits and plum blossoms; Yamamiki Kiln carves peonies into white porcelain; and Sojiro Kiln and Fujii Kinsai Kiln work in blue-and-white and coloured designs.
Many are offered as meoto pairs — two bowls made to be used by a couple — and as Mutsuzoroi sets that match rice bowls with yunomi teacups: a traditional Japanese wedding gift.
