COMPLIMENTARY

I realize that I have posted each of these pots up before, individually but since my computer crash, I have been salvaging pictures and files from the old to the new. In doing so, I ran across this photo where both the Kohyama Yasuhisa haikaburi chawan and the Takahashi Shunsai Shigaraki mizusashi were here at the same time. What strikes me about these pots is the diversity of approach from the rather traditional Shigaraki style to the more modern, haikaburi firing of Kohyama. Despite their possible “ideological” and firing differences, these two distinct surfaces work well with each other, complimentary in their aesthetics and function. As you boil (!) down the intention of each of these vessels where the simplest instructions of “boil water, prepare tea and drink it”*, both this chawan and mizusashi are up to the task where simplicity and the uncluttered are the ideal. 

( *Rikyu’s distillation of what tea ceremony, chanoyu is essentially about.)

BACK OFF

Illustrated is one of the hexagonal teabowls that actually made it through the firing. This one is a gently glazed Kuro-Oribe piece, actually more just plain Oribe where I backed off the final two coat of glaze so that it didn’t meld with the kiln shelf. As you may imagine, the alternating deep furrows on each plain of the hex act as channels for the glaze as it melts and temperature and gravity converge to create issues with the surface. As you can see there is a distinct glaze roll forming at the foot which aided in keeping the molten glass from ruining the bowl. I have been struggling with this technique as the furrows and application of multiple glazes are what I like from the surface, back off too much and it is okay, go too far and well, I am sure you get the picture.       

On a side note, if you look at the other side of the foot ring you can see a large drop of accumulated glaze that formed just a hair’s breadth away from the shelf, luck squared.

KURO (KURO-ORIBE)

Illustrated is a classic black and tinted green glazed kinuta hanaire by Takauchi Shugo. The proportions of this vase are subtle and nuances, slight amount of inward taper to the base echoed in the neck making for an eye pleasing form all around. The black curdled glaze at first glance appears just like a wet Seto-Guro together with a clear ash glaze that has hints of green adding a touch of the dramatic to the surface which has been broken up into four soft planes with areas of spatula work and gentle faceting.  The hakogaki is a bit ambiguous reading only, black vase but I have seen several other examples that read Kuro-Oribe so despite the lack of a clear direction I am operating under the assumption that this implies Kuro-Oribe as well. 

Takauchi Shugo is rather well known for his variations of Oribe so these rich, deep, wet black surfaces round out this oeuvre quite well. Tall and even noble, this form, cloaked in this mysterious surface makes for a wonderful guardian in an alcove, on a desk or shelf and is just waiting to be put to use which in this case is to just look good in the afternoon sun.

CAN I GET A ROLL WITH THAT III

If you think about it, ash glazes have been around for a really long time, perhaps not as long as Egyptian fiance (6000BC) but they did begin to appear as early as 1500BC in ancient China, during the Shang period. Like many potters ash glazes rarely cease to amaze me and as a collector, Kimura Morinobu always springs to mind using a diverse array of ash types creating glaze after glaze. Illustrated is another kaeda pine ash glazed guinomi with a small fractured ice pool on the interior and a rather exotic, fat glaze roll on the exterior as the glaze melted and gained just enough momentum before being frozen in time.         

Though I certainly think this is a rather nice package overall when you turn over this guinomi you are struck by the sheer luxury where the surface has welled up to be this perfect boundary, near gem like between the glaze and the bare clay and foot. Like natural, not quite gem quality emerald, the glaze roll has varying colors and intensity and is fractured adding even more to the overall effect. When you pick up this guinomi, it is immediately clear that there is a hidden feature just waiting to be seen as the size, depth and conspicuousness of the ash hits the fingers and makes its self known. I have not handled many of these kaeda glazed pieces by Kimura Morinobu but would love to get a chawan in hand where the effects could be bigger and bolder and hopefully, I can get a roll with that as well.

 

AT LEAST IT'S NOT GREEN

I am not 100% sure but I think this as out of my last stoneware/ porcelain/ small batch kiln that I fired for 2024. Not particularly large, the body was thrown to resemble one of my teabowl shapes with a set in lid and large, hollow thrown knob that is quite easy to grasp. The surface of the covered jar and most of the lid is covered in thick white slip and was then combed, kushime style to create a lot of texture over which this honey amber was used. Though hard to see, the surface was covered in the slightest coating of black iron oxide to create a dusky and slightly droozy surface which I personally think adds a layer to the piece. I really love making covered pots and this moderate sized piece is good for a wide array of uses and let's be honest, at least it's not green.

RIN II

Despite the carved exterior and interior, there is a purity to this hakuji chawan that harkens back to its antecedence, the Sung Dynasty. This finely thrown porcelain chawan has a wonderful lotus design carved into the bowl that stands proud against surface creating a rather tactile experience while the eyes also register the finely incised decoration on the interior. As if this exterior and interior decoration wasn't quite enough, the lip of the chawan is rendered to try to assist the carved lotus design adding an additional layer of detail adding to the sense of both antiquity and modernity.         

This hakuji porcelain chawan was made by Kurashima Taizan of the Daizan-gama of Sue-cho, Fukuoka, as I had previously mentioned, "the pottery of the Kurashima family is known as Sue-yaki and as mentioned and looks to both Chinese ceramics and Arita ware for its initial inspiration" and exudes a Sung charm while maintaining a distinctly Japanese aesthetic (as I am sure Chinese ceramic collectors would attest). Taizan excels at finely thrown, crafted pottery with varying degrees of carved and incised surfaces which can be clearly seen in this chawan as well as the small lobed vase that I posted some while back. Kurashima is rather fluent in the use of seihakuji and hakuji as one can see in this chawan and the previous post showing off a sensitivity to both purity (rin) and nobility handed down within the family and honed over decades and decades of dedicated pursuit of a specific aesthetic.

IN SEASON

I was sent a couple of pictures of this powerful Kumano Kuroemon hanaire and when I asked to use the photos, the proviso was that I did so while in season. So I bumped this photo of this crusty, well fired Kuma-Shino vase and robai (chimonanthus praecox, "wintersweet") adorning the tokonoma to the top of the to use list. The sparse branches, punctuated by accents of yellow work well with the vase as well as the surroundings and if you look carefully to the right of the photo, through the small opening in the alcove    you can clearly see some of the characteristic bold shoga of the Bear himself. Quite the display with what movie goers nowadays would call an added Easter-egg.

HNY 2025

Though both tokkuri and guinomi are repurposed and impressed into ceremonial duty, just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!  "Kanpai!"

SPIRIT OF ECHIZEN

Though I repeatedly tell myself I am not a collector of guinomi and tokkuri it seems like fate that I should end up with yet another of either of tse forms. Case in point and likel (?) our last pot for 2024 is this Echizen hekishayu tokkuri by Nishiura Takashi. Thrown out of local clay, the full, fat little form is light in weight which defies and stands up to the harsh firing process necessary to create the blue sand surface, frozen in time. With every turn of this pot it presents a landscape full of engaging details that not only please the eye but have a tactile warmth that makes it hard to put down. Perhaps the most intriguing detail is the area where the applied glaze transitions to the natually wood fired effects, creating a three dimensional boundary that circumnavigates the piece. Almost every encounter with Nishiura's array of forms, styles and surfaces leaves me quite satisfied though at the same time creates a quest to see yet another piece to compare and contrast the pots to best understand his lifetime of dedicated pottery making and the very spirit of Echizen in each and every one.

CBL

There is a near immediate recognition when you spot a pot by Ono Kotaro even when it is hanging out in the shadows. The icy clear, yellow or blue glazes that cling to the surface accentuate the meticulously carved lines that curve and wrap the form in a diaphanous embrace. This seiji tsubo by Ono was a Christmas gift for my wife who loves a wide array of pots but i do suspects she prefers them to the more rustic and esoteric Oni-Shino.         

Though not too large, the form is simple with the elegant curvacious carving creates a rather sensuous appearance that is the perfect balance between inviting one in while suggesting being a tiny bit distant. Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of this tsubo is where the glaze has built up ever so slightly adding to the feeling of perpetual motion as the undulating lines go round and round bringing the viewer "there and back again" and never tiring of the cool blue landscape. In retrospect, this icy beauty was just a perfect gift for the season and current, icy climate.