The kodai is the foot at the base of a bowl, water jar, or flower vessel. It is the final part cut after throwing, and the maker's habits and manner show in it more frankly than anywhere else.
What to look at
Classifications are numerous — tatami-tsuki, tokin, warikodai (split foot), takefushi-kodai (bamboo-node foot) — and the feet of Korean bowls in particular are central to appreciation. Form, cutting marks, and areas the glaze failed to reach are the points of interest.
In practice
Checking the foot at the end of an examination is standard etiquette: the bowl is turned over and lifted to look at it. Because the foot is where a piece is least composed for display, it is where attribution and quality are argued about most.
About this article
Edited by the operator of Chaen (a one-person operation) / Last updated:
Tea ceremony descriptions can vary by school and source. Where interpretations differ, this glossary avoids definitive claims and focuses on broadly shared understandings. If you notice an error, please let us know viaContact. To learn about our organization, seeAbout Chaen.
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Related terms
- Chado (The Way of Tea)chado
The Japanese practice of preparing and serving powdered green tea, treated as a lifelong discipline rather than a beverage ritual.
- Wabiwabi
Finding sufficiency of mind within insufficiency and plainness; one of the root concepts of tea practice.
- Ichigo ichie (one time, one meeting)ichigo ichie
The principle that every gathering is unrepeatable, and should therefore be treated as if it will never occur again.
- Keshiki (the 'landscape' of an object)keshiki
The collective term for what is worth looking at in a utensil — glaze flow, distortion, kiln effects, age.
- Mikomi (interior of a bowl)mikomi
The inside of a bowl, especially the centre of the base, where the tea pools and the glaze shows.
- Do (the body)do
The whole side of a vessel, running from shoulder to waist; the largest determinant of its form.
- Koshi (the waist)koshi
The lower part of the body drawing in toward the foot; what fixes the posture of a vessel.