Monday, September 15, 2008

Kim Kyoung Soo's Baekdu Mountain Buncheong Style Tea Bowl



This tea bowl's gritty, rocky skin takes one's senses to a place far away. As fingers traverse the outer body of this bowl the eyes follow. The colour- earthy, rusty browns, with patches of greeny-yellow is reminiscent of the earth sure to cover a mountain. As one views into this bowl a range of rocky mountain peeks of white completely encircle a lake of overly watery Yame Blue Label matcha.

This is not the scene of any ordinary mountain, it is of the holy Baekdu Mountain, the very mountain where, it is said, the Korean nation was once born. The lake of tea in which one sips from now mirroring the pristine lake which rests in the volcanic summit of Baekdu. With every sip, one sips from a holy place.

Where is this place?

Peace

5 comments:

geneviève meylan said...

waouh !!
tea lake on the ground of the mountain !!

Anonymous said...

Baekdusan is in North Korea, almost into China. Did this bowl come from there? It's a lovely bowl, and it was a lovely post.

Matt said...

Ginkgo,

One can relate to your reaction when one first saw the bowl. Kim Kyoung Soo really has a talent for capturing the essence of Korean tea culture in creative yet natural ways with his art.

Nutmeg,

Good question. This bowl came from the kiln of Kim Kyoung Soo located in South Korea, but one is sure that he pictured himself atop Baekdusan when crafting this patriotic tea bowl.

Peace

Anonymous said...

I've never been a great fan of matchas but there great for smoothies and ice-creams!!

Matt said...

Mmmm...

green tea ice cream.

Peace