Less Than Perfect

Less Than Perfect

The Highest Form of Flattery

Tea Bowl
  • Seto ware tea bowl with red lacquer repair
  • Glazed stoneware
  • Seto, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 15th century
  • Moes Collection, UMMAA 47839
Map

By the 14th century, high demand for Chinese tea ceramics had led potters at the Seto kilns in central Japan to manufacture similar forms. This 15th-century Seto bowl closely resembles earlier Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) Jian ware tea bowls. It was more than an imitation, however. The extensive repairs reveal that this bowl was highly valued. Unlike gold kintsugi, the red lacquer (urushitsugi) patch is barely visible and closely harmonizes with the vessel's color, form, and interior decoration.