Kōshū (Mountain Peak) was created by Raku Jikinyū XV, for his landmark 1990 solo exhibition Tenmon (Heavenly Questions) at the Kikuchi Guest House in Tokyo. The bowl belongs to a group of works in which Jikinyū introduced a new approach to the Raku tea bowl through yakinuki, firing the vessel to the limits of the traditional Black Raku kiln. Made from traditional Raku white clay, Kōshū combines Black Raku glaze derived from Kamo River stone with copper oxide and natural wood ash glaze. The intense firing produces a varied surface of glossy black, gray, tan, and red, reflecting the unpredictable conditions of the kiln.
The title Kōshū (高岫), “Mountain Peak,” derives from a line in the Chinese poem Shuhuai (“Expressing My Feelings”) by the Tang dynasty statesman and poet Wei Zheng: “Walking up the winding roads to the mountain peak, / Across uphill and downhill, the wide plains open in far distance.” The verse is inscribed on an alternative box lid accompanying the bowl.
The Tenmon exhibition marked a pivotal moment in Jikinyū’s practice, challenging established ideas about the form, firing, and expressive possibilities of the Raku tea bowl. In Kōshū, the inherited materials and kiln technology of the Raku tradition become the means for radical experimentation, with the unpredictability of yakinuki allowed to participate in the making of the work. The bowl exemplifies Jikinyū’s ability to work from within a centuries-old lineage while continually expanding its artistic vocabulary – a tension between tradition and experimentation that has become central to his singular contribution to contemporary ceramics.
Exhibitions
Tenmon (Heavenly Questions) – solo exhibition of Kichizaemon Raku XV, Kikuchi Guest House (current Musée Tomo), Tokyo, JAPAN 1990
