The subtle mystique of Japanese tea bowls

Arts

November 17, 2011|By Nancy Shohet West, Globe Correspondent

An array of bowls by potter and Chawan exhibition curator Steven Branfman,… (Steven Branfman (left);…)

Among a select subset of potters, the Japanese tea bowl is an object of some mystique. As Belgian artist Lou Smedts once wrote, the tea bowl embodies the Zen concept that the value of art should lie not in its monetary value but in its function. “Usefulness holds the true value of both objects and human beings,’’ wrote Smedts. “Who and what is used is what has value. Think of that when you see a tea bowl.’’

With this notion, Smedts curated an exhibition of tea bowls shown in numerous venues throughout Europe, but among the 70 artists invited to contribute work only one was an American: Newton potter and instructor Steven Branfman, author of several books on the Japanese ceramic technique known as raku. And Branfman was further honored when Smedts invited him to curate the first American version of the show, now on exhibit at Branfman’s Needham gallery.

“With each new country it reaches, the collection changes somewhat, but the theme and focus remain constant: It’s an exhibit of tea bowls inspired by the Japanese aesthetic and by the Japanese tradition of the tea ceremony,’’ said Branfman.

“The tea bowl is one of the few pottery vessels that has a specific origin, history, and culture,’’ Branfman said. “It can be a very personal object. Someone who is making Japanese-inspired tea bowls understands that the tea ceremony is as much about an appreciation of the objects that are involved and their significance within the ceremony as about the tea itself. You have water bowls, flower vases, plates for snacks and sweets. When you’re making something whose origins are so tied to a culture, you can’t help but get involved emotionally in that milieu.’’

Branfman’s history with this particular form is complex and highly personal. A lifelong potter, he has always been interested in vessels, as opposed to free-form sculpture or some other manifestation of clay. His son Jared inherited his passions and became an acclaimed artist in his own right.

At Alfred University, where Jared studied in the early 2000s, he was known for his exquisite crafting of bowls, according to Steven Branfman. And although the father had always produced bowls for pasta, salads, mixing and baking, he had never paid much attention to tea bowls until his son began working in the form.

However, Jared died of cancer at the age of 23. In a statement posted alongside Steven Branfman’s work in the gallery, the still-bereaved father describes how the loss affected his own art.