Raku Chonyu VII (1714-1770) is the seventh generation of the Kyoto-based Raku family potters whose production began since the 16th century until the present day.
The present bowl, with its striking contrast between the reds and the blacks, is a perfect example of early Raku teabowls exploring a modern approach to colour, texture and form using traditional techniques. Raku teabowls are closely associated with wabicha (wabi-style tea), a form of the tea ceremony perfected by the tea master Sen no Rikyū in the late 16th century. In the context of tea, wabi is a life perceptive pursuing a transcendental order of beauty through reticence, humility and the cultivation of the simple, the imperfect and the austere.
The bowl was formerly in the Portier family collection, whose expertise and connoisseurship have been influential to the Asian art market in France for the past four generations since the 19th century.
樂長入(七代樂吉左衛門,1714 - 1770年)乃京都樂家第七代傳人。樂家燒始燒於十六世紀,以燒製樂茶盌為主,至今已傳至第十六代傳人。
此赤樂茶盌色彩幻變於紅黑之間,是早期的赤樂茶盌將傳統技藝融入現代形、色、質的代表作。樂家乃日本茶道茶盌匠人世家,世襲名號為「樂吉左衛門」(Raku Kichizaemon)。始創者長次郎初代樂吉左衛門是日本茶聖千利休(Sen no Rikyu)的御用茶盌大師。初代樂吉左衛門在千利休的引導下首創「樂茶盌」,詮釋日本茶道的「侘寂」思想,為今日本樂燒陶器的創始人。
本品出自 Portier 家族珍藏。Portier 家族為四代收藏世家,自十九世紀起在法國亞洲藝術市場就有着舉足輕重的地位,影響深遠。