Wari-Koudai Totoya Chawan

This is a pretty strong (visually) chawan. Another work by the Japanese ceramist Deishi Shibuya. The photographs don't do justice to this bowl. The white glaze is amazingly bright. It's really a nice piece of work. Definitely a keeper.

The shape is called Totoya, which means “fish dealer” in Japanese. In the sixteenth century a wealthy fish dealer from Sakai (Osaka) imported a bowl of this shape from Korea. The famous tea master Sen no Rikyu discovered the bowl in the shop front of the fishmonger and used it for his powdered tea. Or so the story goes...

I have to do some more digging to find out whether this story is true.