Anthony Schaller
AmericanBowl, n.d.
Not on view
Ceramic
Dimensions2 3/8 × 4 1/8 in. (6 × 10.5 cm)
Gift of Sidney Swidler, 2017.127
In Japan, the yunomi (tea bowl) is characterized by its small-footed base and no handle. Compared to Europeans, who liked their tea piping hot, tea drinkers in China and Japan preferred a lower temperature. The handleless cup allows you to feel the temperature of the tea before you take a sip, which many believe made the tea drinking experience more intimate.
Many contemporary ceramic artists are influenced by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi which rejects the pursuit of perfection and embraces the reality of imperfection. Asymmetry, marks of the artist’s hand, uneven applications of glaze—all of the things that may be seen as missteps in the process are embraced as beautiful imperfections.
