FUJI-SAN II

I recently had an email exchange with a fellow collector and at some point, he mentioned a Fujisan chawan that he admired but had missed out on. I have not seen the piece but from past experience, it is rather difficult to orchestrate the Fuji-san motif well so that it articulates appropriately with the bowl form. I am certainly not saying it can not be done as there are quite a few chawan decorated with Fuji that work quite well. This reminded me of a Wakao Toshisada Shino chawan that I have on the hard drive of just such a bowl with exactly that motif and to my eye, it works exceptionally well. This chawan has a sprawling scene of Fuji-san that covers the entire face of the chawan in a variety of colors and technique creating a powerful image which fits the form so well as if the two are absolutely inseperable. Wakao Toshisada created an image that is reminescent of many a great Edo period painting with hints of the great Rimpa and Nihonga masters in this work presenting a powerful and three dimensional painting on a classic and timeless chawan made by a master at the very top of his craft.

UNLIKELY INSPIRATION

From time to time I like to go to Youtube and watch videos of master craftsman at work and the subject matter is broad from a wood worker making a shoji screen, a sashima knife, a soba artisan, Jiro dreaming of sushi or most recently a bucket maker. I happened across this video of a master bucket maker who starts off with a rough log and using only an ax, a plain, a chisel and hammer, he patiently turns the log into angled staves and using rings of plaited bamboo a bucket is born directly relating to Yangi's "beauty born of use" concept. Watching such cratsman would seem to have little to do with pottery but in many cases it is this unlikely inspiration that sets an idea to sprout. A few days after watching the video, I couldn't get the sense of the bucket out of my mind and figured there had to be a way to create such a piece on the wheel that was not literal but had the spark that originally interested me the most.

After several ideas and attempts, I hit on the illustrated pot, an oni-oke-wan (Oni bucket-bowl) that has what interested me the most in the beautiful cedar buckets that I watched being made. Once the logistic of making the piece were worked out I expanded the idea to also include cover jars, bottles, serving bowls and vases like the illustrated covered water jar with both ceramic and lacquer lid. I am constantly amazed at how a seemingly unrelated inspirational spark can lead tonew things being made and in this case creates the essence of what I was seeing in a wood bucket though in a far more forgiving and plastic medium.

KOCHU-GAMA

I know I have mentioned the story of our first trip to Shigaraki and literally standing in the rain in front of a potter's home and last week while converting more slides into digital images, I came across the most appropriate photo. Illustrated is the front gate of the home and studio, Kochu-gama ("Kiln inside a Tsubo") of Honiwa Rakunyu II from late October 1990. Today the kiln is maintained and run by Rakunyu III where many of the studio pottery and ideals of the kiln are carried on. To this day I can only say of all the places to be lost and confused at, this turned out to be one of the absolute best.

Also illustrated is a three-view image of a classic Honiwa Rakunyu II chaire showcasing an excellent firing and surface. The decorated shoulder is covered with a sheet of glass which also spills off and down the form at several points including over the dark face of the piece where the pot rested near charcoal and reduced to this sobering coloration. As the image shows, this chaire is like a three act play with each segment narrating a different aspect of the story yet in the end, all is tied up in to one complete package.

 

 

HERE COMES THE SUN

I know I have mentioned this before, perhaps too often that when the sun comes around the south-east corner of the house it floods through two windows, one due east and one south making for a great time to look at pots. This particular time also makes for some interesting photos as though it doesn't classically capture the image of the pot it show-cases or high lights attributes that may go un-noticed otherwise and as such a perfect timing for capturing those specific details. In this particular photo the wonderful run of emerald to grey-blue ash comes to life and actually appears like moving liquid though frozen to the form at temperatures near 2200ºF. The sunlight adds to the feudal ambiance of the piece giving it a somewhat mysterious quality that defies time and in some respects, space as well. Made by a staple of the Shigaraki Valley, Tani Seiemon, this form was created based on a medieval archetype though every vase made and firing completed, a unique take on the old pot is created by blending the original details with one's personal interpretation and understanding of that form.

Here is a great cover in a unique style;

BLUES WITHIN BLUES

As difficult as it is for me to admit this, not everything wonderful pot has to be wood fired. The diversity, power and beauty of modern Japanese ceramics never ceases to amaze me and the various fields of polycrome enamels and sometsuke wares are certainly no exception. I was a major fan of the work of Ningen Kokuho Tokuda Yasokichi III (1933 - 2009) and his imaginative and inventive use of design and color and it is only fitting that the name and school linage carries on through Tokuda Yasokichi IV(b.1961). Daughter of  Ningen Kokuho Tokuda Yasokichi III (1933-2009) she suceeded to head of head of the male dominated family in 2009 taking on the name as the fourth generation. Though her work is certainly inspired and even partially directed by her father's works, her approach to the modern tradition of Kutani porcleain glaze painting has its own road to travel and is clearly created by a different hand and voice. This mizusashi is cloaked in a series of blues within blues that present an alluring illusion of everything from waterfalls to rich fabrics all on one pot while accentuating the vertical thrust of the form culminating in a lid and finely conceived knob. It is quite clear from the work of Tokuda Yasokichi IV that she has her own inspirations and ideals to a tradtion started by a Yasokichi nearly a full century ago.

OUT OF THE GARDEN AND IN TO THE CUP

I received this photo of some "local" okra* right out of the garden and in to my cup from a friend who is recently semi-retired, a man of leisure and in pursuit of making pottery again after a number of years away from being a production potter. Jim recently fired his first cone 9 glaze fire and ended up with a number of rather interesting glaze affects including ash glazes which show wonderful promise, quite nice results for his first firing since ditching his tie and briefcase. Along with the vivid okra photo he sent along a shot of his view while drinking his morning coffee on his back porch surronded by foliage and a curtain of morning glories (?) blocking the sun and making for a wonderful staging point to plan the events of the day. I like to receive photos of my pots in use and this older medieval green kushime teabowl is a fine container for the rich greens, the speckled stone countertop and the rustic reds of the brick wall make for a great back drop, a pleasing photo taken by a potter. Thanks, Jim.

(*I should mention that before you report me to the Okra Growers Association, I am not a huge fan of the allopolyploid, not even when it is dipped in golden batter and  deep fried.)

HAND & GLOVE

It is quite obvious that texture and Oribe go hand in hand all the way back to its origins in the 16th century. This is not to say that Oribe isn't equally as beautiful on even and untextured surfaces but rather the glaze accentuates texture quite well, high lighting every mark, depression or raised area creating a wide array of color variations without the addition of other glazes or the need to necessarily be wood fired. In a recent batch of catalogues that I received there was this illustrated Oribe vase by Wakao Toshisada that is a textbook example of just how well the glaze and texture go hand and glove. Wakao has thrown a wonderful Momoyama inspired vase that has been worked with spatula and knife to create a study in naturally inspired texture that accentuate the vertical nature of the form without masking the throwing lines about the pot. Once fired, the Oribe glaze shows off every mark in various ways adding a more classical narrative to the pot with areas around the mouth creating a rich ring of deep green like a band to encircle and control flowers put in the vase. For a potter that is mainly thought of as a Shino specialist it is quite clear that Wakao Toshisada is a master of the various Mino traditions with a profound foundation in the modern interpretation of the modern Momoyama aesthetic.

A SINGLE BLOCK

Perhaps best known for his large, dynamic and animated oni sculpture and even larger ceramic and glass site installations, Mashiko artist Fujiwara Ikuzu has a broad range of subject matter in two and three dimensions. This small ceramic stature portraying a whimsical and idiosyncratic Fudo-myoo along with all of his tell-tale attributes including flames, fans, sword and rope is clearly identifiable as the work of this mashiko ceramic artist and a subject he has created numerous times. The really unique aspect of this piece is that Fujiwara carves his pieces out of a solid block of clay adding detail and definition along the way and that is how this piece was created. Another aspect that makes this Fudo a bit different is that once wood-fired in his moderately sized anagama, the flames behind the main image had a layer of gold gilt added to create another layer of dimension to the statue. I can also relate from having handled this somewhat weighty piece, it is quite obvious it was hewn from a single block of clay much like a stone sculptor finding the image from within and chiseling away until the hidden Fudo-myoo emerged.

MORE IRON & ASH

Illustrated is a medium sized "lip bowl" that I made a while back as part of a larger run of similiar pieces. I have been hanging on to this particular bowl for a time because the glaze came out such a deep, dark temmoku with the ash accenting the piece mostly on the interior. As you can see the glaze breaks well on sharper lines and details allowing the infrastructure of the bowl to show up as well as high lighting the impressed marks made around the bowl. This temmoku glaze has been rather dependable over time but this individual bowl probably is the epitome of what the glaze is capable of and there have been few exactly like it. Besides being deep and rich in color you can see the sheen of iridescence that shows up here and there on the surface giving hints into the chemical composition of the glaze. I am not sure for a fact but I think the base of this glaze is probably the simplest formula I have ever seen for a temmoku and I have nothing more than a splash of clay on a greenware pot to thank for the development of one of my most dependable glazes.

"Serendipity always rewards the prepared."  Katori Hall

ORIBE EN MOUVEMENT

Last week I put up a blog post of an exhibited Oribe vase by Suzuki Satoru and as promised I put together a short video slideshow of the pot. Being a fan of Oribe in general, I really like how the glaze was used on this pot and how it accentuates the movement in the piece created through the use of this bold texture. The Oribe runs a wide array of thickness and color and creates wonderful visual accents literally from top to bottom showing Suzuki's intimate knowledge of his glazes. I hope the video slideshow helps fill out the scale, volume and presence of the pot which was enjoyable to have around to study and admire.

A SIMPLE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

I got a rather excited email the other day from a guy I have known for years, he doesn't collect pottery, rather he is interested in kodogu, sword fittings and metalwork. He very proudly told me he had found a rather remarkable chawan and since he was on the road, he had mailed it to me as a gift and I should have it in just a few days. A man of his word, the package arrived two days latter and was in a good size parcel so there was no tip off to what was to come. As I unpacked the piece, it was double boxed and I began to get a bit nervous as it was beginning to feel like I was dealing with one of those Matryoshka doll sets with ever layer revealed, the packing got smaller and smaller until I was holding the illustrated chawan. Now in fairness, the individual that sent it is not a Japanese pottery collector so there needs to be a bit of lattitude in regards to the pot he sent which turned out to be a rather small wood box with a guinomi residing within. Though as I unpacked the package that was sent my initial feeling that I had choosen door number three on Let's Make A Deal faded as I opened the wood box and took out the rather wonderful Iga guinomi any of that disappointment faded away. As one can guess, it can be a bit dangerous to let the mind wander as it is easy to have such unreasonable expectations as to be let down no matter the outcome but I can say in this instance, once opened I couldn't have asked for a finer little pot from a rather thoughtful collector.

"We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting." Samuel Johnson

A GREEN BOWL

Flanked on either side by a large X and O, the remainder of the design is meant to look like bamboo swaying in the wind. This particular Oribe works well over black and white slips and the qualities of the glaze show up a bit brighter given the background with areas of iron and copper spotting along with a degree of iridescence at the surface. The bowl was thrown a bit loose to create the natural undulation of the lip which I far prefer to cutting the lip to an un-natural state and the sides were lightly cleaned up a bit with a wood rib while on the wheel to give a smoother surface for the decoration while leaving a bit of the evidence of having been thrown. I enjoy throwing Western teabowls, there intention is as wide as those who end up with them in terms of use, display and enjoyment and though I keep thinking I am going to get bored with the various oribe style surfaces there has yet to be even a hint of coming to the end of the road with this green pursuit.

"Any subject can be made interesting and therefore any subject can be made boring." Hilaire Belloc

COMPARE & CONTRAST

After I posted the Suzuki Satoru vase up on Wednesday, I remembered that I had a series of photos from another piece by the potter with a different Oribe glaze. If you compare these two pieces the texture and manner of throwing is very similiar even though this particular vase was made at least ten years ago, possibly more. The Oribe is used much thicker overall on this pot creating a depth that is finished off on the surface with a nice luster depending on how it is viewed but like the other vase, this one is also pretty large and has a wonderful sense of volume and commands its space quite well. The rough texture that moves at a slight angle up the pot also helps animates the form as well as accentuating the height of the vase. As you study these two pots by Suzuki it is quite apparent that his idea of the Oribe tradition is a cohesive and thoughtful blend of the old and the new with his own voice thrown in for good measure.

6815

llustrated is a composite photo of a large Oribe vase by Suzuki Satoru, on the left from a gallery in Hiroshima dated 9/8/2016 and on the right during a stop over in Little Falls back during a very snowy January of this year. The pot though definitely influenced by Okabe Mineo at several levels is part of the body of work that Suzuki has developed over the years and is recognizable as his work. Suzuki uses a number of Oribe variations that work well on heavily textured surfaces and create a wide array of effects that accentuate the way the piece is thrown and the movement of the pot. In this case the glaze is moving down the pot creating wonderful tendril like effects that have a variety of appearances depending on the vantage point and the light sources. I took a number of photos of the vase and will at some point in the future put together a video slideshow of the pot to help fill in any number of blanks that a single photo ends up creating.

On a side note, I am always curious about the journeys that pots take and in this case there is the start date established by the Suzuki vase in September of 2016 and a near end date when I had the pot back in January. This allows for approximately 16 months for the Oribe vase to go from an exhibition in Japan to NY State and cover about 6815 miles along the way. I wonder what stops it took along the way and did it come East or West to get here. I doubt I will ever have the full story but it was rather enjoyable to host the pot here for a short while during its travels to the current final destination until perhaps the next journey that it undertakes.  #ilikeoribe