Tea Bowl ~ Real or Repro Temmoku? + Signature Help

Hello all,

I wasn't sure if I should have posted this in Ceramics or Antiques so I went with the one that seem to cover both bases. Please let me know if I should have gone the other way.

I found this lovely Blackware Tea Bowl today and was hoping the collective genius of the board could help me discover relative age and tell me what the mark reads?







Demensions:
2.5" / 6.3cm Tall
1.5" / 3.81cm Foot
4" / 10.16 cm Mouth

Weight:
6.6oz / 187g


I apologize for the tea stains on the interior of the cup but I seem to be out of baking soda : ) On that note does anyone have a better suggestion than baking soda before I starts scrubbing?

Thank you in advance!

 

Your pictures of the marks show them upside down.

 

Thanks! Took my best guess I’ll fix it when I get back home.

 

Fixed

 

White vinegar to remove tea residue?

Or maybe not. I've heard people say you should never wash a teapot; just give it a good rinse.

 

I can assure you who ever owned this bowl before I did held to that practice. Even a good scrubbing w/ baking soda and white vinegar hasn't taken all the residue off.

 

I don't see tea stains,it has been scrubbed violently and worn off the black glaze into the "brown" lower layer.

 

No, it was tea stains. It took some persistence but they eventually came off

 

now you can make new ones !! Tea Anyone ??

 

Apparently you are supposed to drink a whipped tea with a white froth on top (like a tea late ~ although sans the milk I would imagine)

"Connoisseurs prided themselves on their ability to prepare tea, and contests were devised for the preparation of so-called whipped tea, which was whisked to produce a white froth on the top. Since the winner was the person whose froth lasted the longest, having a bowl whose color showed the froth to advantage was soon regarded as desirable. Black tea bowls became fashionable and were made at a number of kilns in north and south China, including the Jian kilns of Fujian."
Quoted from the glossary at Gothborg.com

 

If @Mat , @JayBee or @Dundun have a moment to look at the mark I would very much appreciate it.

I do apologize if tagging the three of you is seen as inappropriate (I'm new to this forum and still learning the proper etiquette) but I was concerned that by not posting this thread in Pottery you might not wander by on your own

 

If the sun is shining on my rudimentary translation skills the mark appears to read:
"Small village in Huokou" which is in the Shaanxi Provence.

 

谷 grain
小 small

I cannot read the 3rd character.

It may be from japan because those Chinese characters are commonly seen in Japanese name.

 

Thank you Dun,

From what I have been reading, this bowl coming from Japan would be unlikely.

The Japanese did prize Chinese Temmoku but when they started producing it locally they primarily stuck to one style of bowl, that w/ a tapered mouth.





Also the earthenware clay in Japan is very low in iron and so fires near white in color.

Could the third character be “school”?

 

The school character is written as 校, it’s quite different to me.

 

Fair enough