Friday, April 20, 2012

WHAT"S LUCK GOT TO DO WITH IT

A very perceptive collector friend of mine was lucky enough to happen on to this phenomenal Tsukigata Nahiko Oni-Shino hanaire a while back. I say lucky, but luck had nothing to do with it really. He saw and exceptional piece and committed to acquiring it, despite the financial strain. This Tsukigata pot is one of those classic front & back pots with the face as you see it and the rear having a molten, iron rich flow of glaze and ash cascading down the rear. The face has these unctuous rolls of thick Shino frozen for all time framed by iron and ash from its battle within the fiery kiln controlled in part by a master potter. The form of this vase, is one of a group that Tsukigata used throughout his career and strikes a monumental, nearly totemic stance with the surface accentuating and painting the lines of the pot.

As if the very nature and quality of this textbook surface was not enough, this pot appeared in the book highlighting Tsukigata's pioneering achievements in the book; ONI-SHINO (1974).  As a friend once reminded me, the only thing better than having a truly great pot, is to have the pot illustrated in a book, it is hard to discredit at that point. This timeless pot shows a glimpse into the creative maelstrom that defines Oni-Shino and stands as testament to one of the great innovators of Shino of the 20th century.

"Chance favors the prepared mind." Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)