Another Sam Do Style Tea Bowl By Korean Master Chon Han Bong

Chon Han Bong (Cheon Han Bong) is one of Korea's best potters. Especially magnificent are his Sam Do Style teabowls. One had the opportunity to drink many bowls of matcha (Kor: malcha) from his Sam Do bowls and the experience is always memorable. It was an unexpected treat when Greg Demmons brought one of Chon Han Bong's Sam Do Style bowls over to drink matcha from. After our tea meeting he left this bowl behind for me to inspect with a closer eye...

The eyes are drawn to the streaky, thin, gye yal (brush mark) which skirts across the outside wall of the bowl. The eyes see what the fingers feel- senses are in harmony as one holds the bowl in cupped hands. The gye yal offers the fingers soft bumpy ridges with which the fingers embrace. The sharp gye yal fades invisibly into the upper and lower side wall, its border is ambiguous and hard to define leaving the mind in an expansive state. The side wall of the bowl above and below the gye yal are only defined by the subtle sensation below ones fingers. Near the rim it feels of soft grainy sand under the glaze. Near the foot it feels of slightly courser grainy sand under the glaze. The colour of the outer sidewall also dramatically changes as the bowl is rotated counterclockwise in ones hands. One side is pink-reddish and slowly the more greyish-blue side is revealed as the bowl is rotated. These colours offer a wonderful contrast, warmth and cold, sunrise and sunset, yin and yang.

At the bottom of this bowl is a simple "haes moo ri" style foot that is characteristic of Chon Han Bong's Sam Do teabowls. The simple style and execution of the unpretentious and smooth cut foot is exactly opposite what is found on the rest of this bowl. This technique of a simple foot is done for a few different reasons. Firstly, it allows for the focus of the bowl to be elsewhere. Secondly, it offers an element of contrast. Thirdly, it reminds us of the unpretentious and simple life.

Conversely three marks of beautifully imperfect beauty grace the outside wall of this bowl. Two blotchy fingerprints are found near the foot and connect us with the potter. These fingerprints give the bowl a feeling of being in the present while connecting us with the past. These marks on the bowl are just as unique as the fingerprints themselves. These prints break and muddle the continuity of the gye yal of the side wall. Like a monk breaking though his koan it jolts us into a relationship of what this bowl is. There is a beautiful patch of thicker white glaze on the edge of the foot and another smaller slightly thicker greyish white blob on the sidewall near the foot. These blobs of glaze give the bowl more life, more uniqueness, more strength. If you look closely you will also see a faint gye yal fade into the rim of the bowl. It certainly encourages you to look inside...

When gazing inside the bowl your focus is immediately drawn to the characteristic Sam Do Style stamped flowers in the shallow of the tea bowl. These flowers are especially interesting and contain three elements which make them especially beautiful. First, the flowers seem to be haphazardly scattered and often overlap. This element conjures the image of the potter acting in a carefree fashion, and gives the bowl a free feeling. The flowers also fade in and out and do not always offer a complete imprint. This feature also has the same effect as above. The flowers are also covered by the five stack marking that occur in the wood kiln- also a very free feeling effect that brings into touch with the potter.

Other interesting aspects of this exceptional bowl include the seemingly random blotches of ghostly white. These both offer contrast while bridging and harmonizing the colours of the patterns and marking and the base colour.

The small divots that encircle just above the flower stamps act to give the bowl movement. More importantly they influence the whisking action of the matcha creating micro turbulence and in the end a better bowl of tea.

If you look close enough at the characteristic Sam Do style white diagonal white dashes you can even see mico cracks in the glaze. Also of note is how the double lined upper border of the inner sidewall fades from two lines into one. It does so so harmoniously and so subtly that an untrained eye would easy miss it, lost in the complex patterning of the Sam Do Style.

This bowl is an overall beautiful visual and tackle experience...

Did I mention that it makes good tea.

Peace

Sam Do Style Tea Bowl by Korean Master Chon Han Bong: A Look at the Rae Bin Sam Do Subtype

The Sam Do Style, or Three Island Style of tea bowl has a long history in Korea. The Rae Bin Sam Do style can be traced all the way back to the early 1400s and is one of Koreas classical styles. Like the Hwa Sam Do style and Ju Sam Do Style it has a very distinct look, or cannon, that is followed. Essentially they are trying to replicate the essence of a traditional bowl with only subtleties of each potter coming out in the final product. The idea is that the harmony of the elements, of nature, of the earth & fire is what is admired in the final product. The potter is below or under his product- the bowl his hands helped create. Of course, we cannot talk of this bowl without mention of Master Chon Han Bong- he is a brilliant potter and one of Korea's true masters.

This beautiful white slipped Rae Bin Sam Do style bowl is winter in feel while hinting at spring. So today, as winter rains fall and spring around the corner, it seems like the perfect day to examine such a wonderful piece.

The focal point of Rae Bin Sam Do style bowls is most definitely the calligraphy in the bowl's pool. The whole bowl seems to emanate around this centering feature like the island that this style of bowl was thought to come from. Here in the center we can also see the colour undernieth. It is the earth, the earth of the island. Its boundary is well defined by a white circle. From this calligraphy, from this white circle, the energy of the bowl is transmitted.

Squiggly lines emit from the center covered in a thin white that is blotchy, not completely covering the colours beneath. These squiggly lines represent the water, the waves that surround the island, the waves of peace that undulate in rhythmic motion that put us at ease when drinking tea from its innards.

The squiggles reach outward to the rim that is marked by notches, often a defining feature of the Sam Do Style. These notches are to thought to fill space with that which is beautiful but not pretentious. The notches that collar the inside rim on this bowl remind us to fill our lives with that which is beautiful but not to be braggarts, flamboyant, or pretentious but rather modest- happy with the simple things we fill our life with.

Of note on the inside rip is a finger print, a blotch, a human touch. Often blotches connect us to the human element of a tea bowl besides adding a measure of asymmetrical beauty. This blotch is especially beautiful and done quite tastefully.

The outside of the bowl is coated in a thicker application of white. Only when you flip the bowl over to admire its foot can you get a real feel for the contrast the white slip gives to the bowl. You also notice the ghostly layers white with thinner application in some areas and thicker in others where it coagulated then drizzled down the side. As the white nears the foot it thins into natural patterns with blotches of the base, green/blue brown colouring, showing through. These blotches add a relaxing element to the piece like watching a slow moving cloud in the sky.

The chop to is tactfully balanced with a small uncovered patch, revealing the clay below. It suggests modesty of the potter. The balance it creates with the chop is quite breathtaking especially with a such a thick layer of white defining its perimeter.

The division and contrast created by the distinct white boarder that cuts the foot in half is stark and is the focal point of the bowls bottom. Staring at its division reminds us of the division between Heaven and Earth. The sky, water, and island. The yin and the yang. The Dao.

Peace

Potter's Zen from Chon (Cheon) Han Bong- Korea's Intangible Cultural Asset In Pottery

While preparing an upcoming post on a Sam Do Style Tea Bowl by Master Potter Chon Han Bong one came across a video that captures the essence of Korean pottery. It features Korea's designated Master of Ceramics, Chon Han Bong firing pottery and offering words that only a master could.

Here is a link to a blog that offers a word-for-word English transcription of the video as well as the Korean video in its entirety (yes, a full view that isn't cropped off). To watch this master in action strikes at the core of Korea's Way of Tea.

Enjoy.

Peace

Education In the Art of Edo Style

Please read the post A Test In the Art of Edo Style to understand the following...

You readers are a smart bunch! Tea Bowl #1 is of lesser monetary value made buy a much younger and inexperienced, all though extremely popular, artist. Bowl #1 was made by the hands and kiln of Kim Kyoung Soo. So lets look at this Edo Tea Bowl...


The shape of this bowl is a little on the hardy side. It looks a little too bulky for a graceful, soft, and gentle Edo bowl. The main body of the bowl is also quite thick. The high firing of thin ceramics is difficult to do without overheating and cracking the bowl in the kiln. So buncheong style bowls that have thin walls are generally valued higher then those with thin walls. Although these shape characteristics detract from the Edo style, they are also what make this bowl alluring. Edo style aside, this bowl feels sturdy and grounding. One can see how it could be treasured and used under certain circumstances to evoke this feeling.


The clay of this bowl is of lesser quality. For some reason beyond my knowledge the clay used for this tea bowl doesn't share the clay of a quality Edo bowl. Perhaps the clay is expensive, or is difficult to find or obtain, or maybe it was just a creative decision by Kim Kyoung Soo to use a different clay. Either way the clay used is on the duller side where as the muted pinkish-orange is the most sought after. The best place to view the clay of a tea bowl is on the unglazed foot. Here a greyish hue can be seen from this bowl.


The glaze of this bowl is thick and glossy not quite ideal for the muted calm of an Edo bowl. This thick style of applying the glaze is somewhat of a characteristic of Kim Kyoung Soo and can be seen on his other bowls pictured here, and here. So again, one wonders if it was done deliberately.


The foot of this bowl doesn't resonate the look or feel of the blooming Mae Hwa. Firstly, the globing technique doesn't engulf the exposed clay and make it come alive. Secondly, there is something about the shape of the collared-like foot that, once again, exudes a certain huskiness to it.


Either way, given a certain mood, this bowl could really enhance your experience with tea and even be chosen over the other two.


Tea Bowl #2 was made by the hands of artist Chan Han Bong, a ceramic master and mentor of Kim Jeong Pill. This bowl is beautiful in its shape, colour, and glaze. The shape seems in proportion, and conveys a sense of grace and balance. This bowl feels quite right in one's hands. More than any of the three, this bowl conveys a sense of safety and security. The colour of this bowl is soft, muted, and at peace with the rest of the bowl. The glazing is of excellent quality on this bowl. The glaze lightly coats this piece allowing cracks to share its air with the tea. The soft white glaze looks like the soft clouds of early morning, that pulls and bases the colour of the clay, the colour of a soft sun rise. As one peers inside the tea bowl one can see soft white slowly converging upon the shallow of this bowl. What a wonderful effect. The foot of this bowl is also quite beautiful as air holes creep their way down toward the foot. The unglazed clay beneath the glaze resembles the branches of the Mae Hwa and the white blobs the full white blossoms. What a wonderful tea bowl.



Tea Bowl #3 by Jung Jum Gyo was chosen as the favorite of the three by all those who left a comment on the blog. Consequently, it is also one's favorite and also the most expensive of the three, more than doubling Chan Han Bong's Tea Bowl in price. So, what makes this tea bowl so special?


The shape of this bowl is wonderful, it exudes a feeling a grace, maybe even shyness. Its shape looks and feels elegant, but not showy. The walls of this bowl are also thinner than the other two, validating the feeling of gracefulness. The outside body of this tea bowl displays three rings that jut out slightly from the bowl. These three rings are quite valued on tea bowls and give the hand that cradles the bowl maximum contact with the bowl and a sense of unimposing security. Creating a bowl that contain these three rings while still conveying a sense of subtly and naturalness in form is no easy task. Jung Jum Gyo did a great job pleasuring the hands on this bowl.


This bowl's colour seems to radiate such natural pinky-orange softness, the most beautiful of the three. It's thin glaze can barely contain the peaceful glow of this bowl. The small cracks in this bowl supply the bowl with ample air as well as beauty. On the foot of this bowl, the glazing seems to portray 'the skin of the Mae Hwa'. The size of the foot seems a bit smaller than it should, but it makes up for it in its form. The shape of this foot is an excellent example of what a good Edo foot should look like. Unlike the foot of Chan Han Bong's bowl, the outside collar of this foot first juts in before jutting out. The collar is small and retains a sense of grace without looking clumsy and jolting like the foot of Kim Kyoung Soo's Edo bowl. This bowl simply has too many beautiful features to not be chosen as the most beautiful of the three!


Thanks again for your comments. You guys passed the test with flying (but subtle pinkish-orange) colours!


Peace