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The chawan, or Japanese teabowl, is a widely venerated ceramic form, an object with huge appeal among Western artists, collectors and audiences more generally. Teabowls were part of the collections that French Japanophiles Philippe Burty and Siegfred Bing brought back from the East in the late 19th century, a cultural import that initiated japonisme - a craze for all things Japanese, which counted Émile Zola and Vincent van Gogh among its fans. In the UK, Bernard Leach celebrated the aesthetic qualities of early Japanese tea-masters' wares as a part of his tireless advocacy of early Chinese, Korean and Japanese ceramics throughout the 20th century. His own writing, including A Potter's Book (1940) and production of teabowls now in the Tate collection demonstrates how Leach was in thrall to Japanese folkcraft (mingei), an appreciation he passed on to many of his students and admirers.
It is hardly unusual to learn that the 13 UK ceramists chosen for this exhibition have been inspired by this iconic form. Following Leach, the exhibitors attempted to communicate the effect of the humble, simple and pared-down beauty of the teabowl through the presentation of their own teabowls on plinths and daises and a series of quotes on the wall. The exhibition closely mirrored an earlier 2013 show at the Korean Embassy - Moon Jar: Contemporary Translation in Britain - where a group of UK ceramists responded to the vernacular Korean form, made famous after Leach acquired...