The Blue Stone Bowl — Shino Wood-Fired Chawan

The Blue Stone Bowl — Sea and Stone, Fired Together

This is the most visually arresting cup in the collection — and we say that without hesitation. Its exterior is a landscape of white river stones floating on deep iron-brown earth. Its interior is something else entirely: a field of cobalt blue and white crawled glaze, deep and turbulent, like a night sea photographed from the edge of a cliff. No other cup in this firing achieved this combination. It will not happen again.

Why This Cup Is Priced Higher: Among all the cups in this collection, #016 stands apart for two reasons. First, the interior glaze — a rare and unpredictable combination of deep cobalt blue and dense white crawled glaze that formed simultaneously during the wood firing. Achieving cobalt blue in a Shino wood firing is inherently difficult and unreliable; this result is exceptional. Second, the exterior crawled glaze is among the most fully developed in the collection — large, rounded white fragments, evenly distributed, with consistent blue-violet haloing throughout. The combination of a dramatically glazed exterior and a cobalt interior in a single cup is what justifies the price.

Glaze & Surface: The exterior carries a deep iron-brown ground covered in large, rounded white crawled glaze fragments — smooth and stone-like, each one distinct, separated by warm umber tracery. Around many of the white fragments, a soft blue-violet halo has developed where the cobalt migrated outward during firing, giving the exterior a quiet luminosity that deepens under different light. The rim is edged in iron-brown, slightly irregular and hand-formed. The interior opens into a world of cobalt blue and white — dense crawled white glaze erupting through and across a deep blue ground, like sea foam on dark water, or white ice breaking across a frozen lake. The blue is rich, saturated, and alive.

A Note on Imperfection: At the lower exterior wall, there is a slight localised indentation — a gentle depression in the clay where the wall shifted minutely during the kiln firing. The cup sits stably and functions perfectly. This mark is the direct record of fire, gravity, and the particular moment this cup came into being — in the wabi-sabi tradition, it is precisely what makes this object irreplaceable.

Form & Feel:

• Low, straight-walled chawan form — cylindrical with a subtle outward flare at the rim
• 240g weight — solid and grounding, comfortable in two hands
• Thick walls with excellent heat retention
• Rounded white stone exterior — satisfying to touch
• Small unglazed foot ring — dark stoneware, raw and compact

For the Art of Tea: The cobalt interior makes this cup distinctive for light teas — white tea, green tea, or a pale oolong will glow against the deep blue glaze. It is equally powerful for matcha: the contrast of green against cobalt is one of the great pleasures of ceramics. Hold it in both hands and look into it before you pour.

One of a kind. Wood-fired in a single kiln firing. Never to be repeated.

Care

Suitable for contact with tea. Hand wash gently and avoid abrasive cleaners. Variations and firing marks are part of this one-of-a-kind handmade piece.