Rakuware Pottery Developed

Raku ware is a celebrated style of Japanese pottery closely associated with the tea ceremony. According to tradition, the name derived from a seal bearing the character raku, meaning ease or enjoyment, which was bestowed on the family of potters who perfected the technique in sixteenth-century Kyoto.

The hand-shaped, low-fired earthenware was prized for its irregular forms, soft glazes, and unpretentious beauty, qualities that accorded with the aesthetic ideals of the tea master Sen no Rikyu. Raku tea bowls became esteemed objects within the world of the Japanese tea ceremony.

The Raku family continued the craft through successive generations, passing the name and methods from master to master. The tradition spread Japan's reverence for understated, wabi-inspired beauty and later influenced studio potters around the world who adopted Raku-style firing.