Is this bowl safe for making matcha and food?

Hi there,

Ceramics question: Bought this bowl in Kyoto but my main concern is if this is actually good to use for making matcha. Was wondering if anyone could identify the producer and year of make or tell me if this could potentially have lead or similar. The bowl was really cheap so I'm also trying to figure out the reasoning behind the price. I also noticed it has the crackled pattern [all similar bowls seem to have this]. Would this be a concern? Also not sure if the box is the original one.

Here's the photos from another website that sells a bowl like this: https://imgur.com/a/n8c4wgk
Here's the photos I took of the details on the bowl:
https://imgur.com/a/tw1pmbR

Thanks so much!

To me this looks like a simple bowl. I can�ft really understand the size. So to me it looks like a rice bowl rather than a tea cup.

Cheap, because it is likely mass produced. The painting looks to me like a print not a hand painting at least for the dark lines. The blue part maybe hand painted but easy peasy. So yes, I�fd buy this at a 100 yen shop.

Regarding lead not sure why you are worried about it. But even if there are some traces of lead in it, you�fll not be drinking so much matcha that it can poison you.

There is lead in tea itself (and in everything else you eat):
https://www.food.gov.uk/research/chemical-hazards-in-food-and-feed/ana...

There is no way that anyone could tell you if this specific bowl contains lead just by looking at it. The bowl looks glazed so the little cracks are just decorative. Regarding the price, did you buy it at a second hand shop, maybe?

I agree it's not a chawan, but if you like it you can of course make matcha in it.

ale6rbd,

I understand your concern, because I'm an amateur ceramicist myself. It's not only about lead. There are certain materials that are not to be used for edible things, and there would be a warning labeled on the jar of that material, usually saying something like "Contains so and so and is not food-safe." I avoid them when I'm making dishware. But your bowl is clearly for edible things, especially tea. Here are the reasons.

For one thing, the box is labeled ��盌 (chawan), an old way of writing ���q which means "tea bowl" or "rice bowl". The ball-point pen writing says �‚ڒ��q (tsubo-chawan). "Tsubo" is the name of the design. Of course, there is a chance that the box doesn't fit the content. But still, the bowl is clearly a work of a professional. What I mean is that, it's not like some amateur person handmade it without much knowledge of toxic materials. And any Asian person can probably tell you that (although you can't tell if it's expensive or not) it's not one of those 100-yen shop things that's likely to contain something phony. Additionally, the shape is in no way something initially designed to put in non-edible things such as plants or incense.

By the way, to me it doesn't look like a rice bowl. A rice bowl would usually be a little bit more narrow toward the bottom.

So, to sum up, the bowl clearly looks like it was designed to be used for tea. And it doesn't look like it was made by someone who doesn't know what (s)he's doing in terms of safety.

I hope it helps.

@Uco
Ooooh, that's indeed a chawan? It looked a bit too narrow for me to whisk matcha comfortably. I stand corrected. Now that you say it, I do recognize the "��" on the label... I still have a long way to go! Thanks for the lengthy explanation, I love learning more on ceramics.

Regarding the potentially dangerous materials, the main risk would be if this bowl was made some time ago (before the 1950s), when the regulations were less strict. That being said, crystal is made with something like 25% of lead, and many people still use crystal glasses nowadays...

For interest, lead crystal does leaching does occur based on duration and acidity, and people still use glasses with a high lead content. But the micro-grams that might enter a glass of wine are a lot less then the milli-grams that would leach from a lead painted cup.