The phrase "contemplation of the everyday object as a mystical resource" graces the back of a catalog from the 1998 Raku exhibition that toured Europe. I say it over and over in my mind like a mantra, challenging myself to be aware of the things I live with and how they not only satisfy my needs but also nourish my spirit. Although the item referred to there was chawan (tea bowl), it could apply to anything.

Raku chawan, the pride of the tea world, have traditionally been the perfect match for whipped green tea and the accompanying, Zen-like tea ceremony; their thick-walled bodies insulate the warm tea without becoming hot to the touch -- and yet they are light in the hand. In the strictly controlled realm of the tea ceremony, there is even a ranking of the best chawan that is expressed in the old adage, "Raku first, Hagi second, Karatsu third."

Raku means "pleasure," and the word derived from Jurakudai, the name of the recreation palace of warlord and art patron Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98). Hideyoshi, a devotee of tea, gave a seal with the palace's name on it to Joukei (1635-?), the son of Chojiro (1589-?), who worked under the guidance of tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-91) to create the first Raku chawan. Initially, the pottery had been simply referred to as ima-yaki (now wares).