Black Glazed New Moon Tea Bowl by Suwa Sozan

Width: 10.6cm Height: 7.6cm

This piece, "Black Glazed New Moon Tea Bowl," was created by Suwa Sozan IV, and as its name suggests, it is a piece with the motif of a new moon (black moon) floating silently in the night sky. The all-black glaze is not just a "color," but symbolically represents the universe itself, or the tranquility of the new moon, which can also be called the "invisible moon."

At first glance, this piece may give the impression of being simple and devoid of any decorativeness, but in reality it is a dialogue between the shape and the glaze, and is deeply imbued with the artist's idea of ​​"representing what cannot be seen."In contrast to vessels that are enveloped in light, such as celadon and white porcelain, this tea bowl exudes a unique presence as it is enveloped in darkness .

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New Moon and Black Moon Symbolism

During a new moon, the moon passes between the sun and the earth, and its illuminated side cannot be seen from the earth, so it disappears from the night sky. This "invisible moon" has been revered since ancient times in the East as a symbol of rebirth, purification, and introspection . The "black moon" has a special meaning among them.

The moon waxes and wanes in a cycle of approximately 29.5 days, but on rare occasions, due to calendar discrepancies, there can be two new moons in the same month. This second new moon is a phenomenon known as a "black moon," an astronomical moment of silence that occurs only once every few years .

In the context of Western astrology and mystical thought, the Black Moon period is considered a time to "face the depths of your soul" and is considered an appropriate time for prayer, meditation, or spiritual detoxification, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Inspired by this mysterious astronomical phenomenon, Sozan created a vessel that quietly embraces light, based on the theme of "invisible beauty" rather than "visible beauty."

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The black glaze option: a light-absorbing surface

The glaze used is a deep matte black, but this is not just a single color black, but a dense, multi-layered black brought about by the natural glaze containing iron . If you look closely, you can see the movement and graininess of the glaze within the black, giving it the air of faint stars twinkling in the night sky.

The iron powder and crystals that appear on the surface during firing also bring life to the pottery as unintentional decoration, creating an extremely rich visual experience, just like the "presence of the invisible" that we feel when gazing intently at the quiet night sky.

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Form and Spirituality: Vessel Shapes Honoring the Moon

The shape of the piece has a neatly rounded outline and a slightly high base, giving it a calm and stable appearance. The unglazed parts around the base retain the warmth of the earth due to the fired base color, giving the viewer the impression of looking up at the moon from the earth.

Another characteristic of this teapot is that it has a slightly deeper depth, so that when you pour tea into it, you can enjoy the poetic image of the moon's shadow floating in the bubbles. Welcome the quiet moon into your hands and clear your mind . That is the essence of this teapot.

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Beauty is the power to reflect the "invisible"

The greatest appeal of this tea bowl is that, paradoxically, it speaks most eloquently of the visual absence of "not being able to see the moon." Finding beauty in the invisible, feeling light in the darkness, overlapping the depths of the universe in the bowl. This is perhaps also connected to the "beauty of blank space" and "beauty of nothingness" that have been cultivated in the Eastern aesthetic sense since ancient times.

If celadon is a vessel that reflects light, then this black-glazed new moon tea bowl is a vessel that contains darkness. Suwa Sozan's expression is an exploration of beauty that exists between the visible and the invisible, presence and absence, and light and darkness , and it still evokes fresh emotions in the modern age.

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Conclusion: Putting a prayer into the new moon vessel

The Black Glazed New Moon Tea Bowl is more than just a tea bowl; it is a universe, a place of meditation, and a symbol of prayer. There is no more suitable tea bowl for a time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and to listen carefully to the silence.

On the night of a black moon, if you take up this tea bowl in a dimly lit tea room, and clear your mind as you absorb the tranquil aroma of matcha, another "inner universe" may emerge.