Monday, March 31, 2025

FLOATING CLOUDS

At its core, this is a rather simple vase, elegant in its presentation with hints of Chinese porcelain thrown in for good measure. This hanaire has all the characteristics of the evolved tradition where over the centuries Takatori ware became more elegant and cultivated in form and surface to both meet the prevailing tastes and to create a ceramic canvas for a specific ideal. The crisp lines and subtle details act as a vessel that in some ways in this instance is a pedestal for the exotic fish lugs that have become a calling card among the modern, posts 19th century Takatori Miraku potters right down to the current head of the family, Miraku Kamei (Masahisa) XV. Springing from a century’s old tradition, dating back to almost 1600, modern area potters relied on older Takatori ware ideals/ archetypes to appeal to the somewhat conservative nature of the establishment chajin and under Kamei XIII the Takatori teawares moved from being a regional pottery to having far greater national exposure. At its core, Miraku Kamei XIII (1883-1956) made his pottery specifically oriented toward those who practiced (chajin) and collected articles (chadogu) for the tea ceremony (chanoyu) and over time he gained the reputation as a nearly peerless maker of chaire.               

As you can see in this vase made by Miraku Kamei XIII there is a streamlined elegance to the form, the superfluous details are cast away relying on the purity of line/form and enticing and intriguing surfaces. By combining oyu (straw yellows) and rokushoyu (green-blue) glazes, Miraku has brought movement and life to a rather simple and stylized form acting almost like floating clouds on a static form pointing to the highly detailed and articulated fish lugs and broad distinct mouth and lip of the pot. As I stated, this is a simple form with intriguing and curious details that are highlighted by a complex surface of movement and subtle painterly qualities that are as timeless as the Takatori tradition now in its 15th generation and moving toward another century of dedication to an ideal and devotion to purpose and ceremony.

Friday, March 28, 2025

ACCOMODATING

A short while back someone messaged me and ask if I could post an overall picture of the Kumano chawan from a post several years back. It took a while to find the photos which were taken some while back and narrowly missed being either deleted or corrupted in a major PC melt-down but I do my best to be accommodating when possible. What I can tell you is this bowl was quite memorable, quite large and the face gives way to vivid Yohen-Shino with an almost chaotic field of texture and color. Though this is an old photo, likely taken with my old Mavica and saved on floppy discs originally so it is not the best quality to show off this rather nice Kumano chawan but it will just have to do.  

The original post can be seen here; 

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

WHAT IS THE PLURAL OF FLUTE?

                                 
                                   

            

This was clearly an end of day pot, not thought out and just thrown using some clay already wedged up. Obviously, it was slightly thought out as it was thrown thick enough to flute vertically and horizontally which interrupts the flow of the movement of the surface. There is a simple lid surrounded by concentric bands to add so movement and interest to that as well and completed with a slab impressed handle based on a Cubist apple stem. The idea to this spur of the moment pot is pretty simple and since a fluted surface looks good, I went with my Oribe and accents of iron which have created cascades of color running down the furrows. By the way, what is the plural of flute in this context, is it as simple as flutes?

Monday, March 24, 2025

NONE THE LESS

Though not made in Shigaraki, this simple, lobed mizusashi is Shigaraki none the less. Having studied with Tsuji Seimei, Kon Chiharu made this classic vessel for tea ceremony which was then fired in an anagama to create a classic, even traditional style of pottery that is synonymous with Shigaraki. The form of this mizusashi is somewhat simple and entirely functional where impressions were made while the clay was still wet and a practical lid was thrown completed with knob so that it would sit just atop the pot, closing the opening and at some level hiding the contents from view. When fired, this pot was fired upright, the lid was wadded to the piece and the form was fired on wads as well, the large botan-mochi style area on the face of the pot was created by some pot acting as a defensive linebacker keeping some of the flow and velocity of the fire and ash from reaching its intended target. The majority of the surface is covered over, excepting the one resisted area on the front and a small area on the rear, in a coat of wet ash presenting a sense of being freshly washed, a feature that I am always drawn to. Everything about this pot speaks to centuries of a medieval tradition even if it was made and fired a few miles away, clearly Shigaraki to the very bones of the pot.

Monday, March 17, 2025

WEE BIT-O-GREEN

So here is a wee bit-o-green for Saint Patrick’s Day or should I say a pot full of green? This bowl was thrown out of a rather sandy stoneware clay and then while still rather wet, quickly and unevenly faceted to show off the texture hiding under the surface of the clay. The foot was tooled on the wheel but still has a rough, natural appearance because of all the tearing from the sand and once bisque it was glazed over in my Oribe combo producing what I tend to refer to as Kuro-Oribe due to the dark, droozy blackish surface. The combination of the sand punctuating the surface along with the running tendrils of color and the deep collected pools of green make for an interesting landscape that may or may not remind one of Ireland but since it isn’t easy being green, this is about as close as I could get.


Friday, March 14, 2025

OSC REVISITED

A while back I suffered a rather catastrophic computer crash and have been working daily rescuing data from the old computer and recently came across this older slideshow video. I realize I posted a static photo of this Oni-Shino chawan by Hayashi Shotaro previously but thought the group of photos helps fill in the blanks, adds detail and perhaps builds the sense of volume of the piece that a single picture certainly would not. Enjoy!



Wednesday, March 12, 2025

NEXT CYCLE?

Well at least this one isn’t green (Oribe) though it is from some time ago and I am pretty sure I have used this bowl before though now rephotographed. I was going through my broad feet stage and this one was a handful, large bowl shape with a large, tapering foot. The body of the bowl isn’t too thick but the foot adds real weight to the form, something a collector I know would immediately find disqualifying. Though this bowl owes some of its inspiration to Kawai Kanjiro, the shape of the bowl itself was based on an old Japanese lacquer piece I had seen. 

The teabowl is glazed over in my temmoku glaze and then was dipped in an iron red that was quickly combed with my fingers before the surface could dry. The effect is a bit obvious where dark tendrils of color mingle with the droozy, running iron which always reminds me a bit of the partridge feather technique. One other feature worth mentioning is that the bowl is punctuated in small, reflective iron crystals that just cover the surface of the glaze, a nice little bonus to the overall runny effect. Every time I come across this picture, it reminds me I need to make a few more of these pots instead of treating them like they are in the rear-view mirror. Maybe next cycle?