FRAGRANCE

Keeping on the koro theme to end the week, here is a simple and very Chinese influenced Jun style koro by Kimura Morinobu. The form is classic, resting on a tripod configuration and puffing out to express the fullest volume possible in a pot you can hold in the palm of your hand. My suspicion is that the glaze was engineered out of some wood ash or another and visually, the koro has three distinct bands of coloration; the pale blue seiji at the base, the wildly textured purple at the top of the form completed by a rich, dark wood pierced and carved lid with a dramatic carnelian knob.      

What one can take away from Morinobu’s koro is the sense of purpose, where function is paramount and the intent visually is rooted in the allusion of fragrance where a small amount of clay, ash and fire build a bridge between the physical and emotional realms. I many respects, I would expect nothing less from Kimura Morinobu where potter and pottery look to Kyoto aesthetics, then skillfully infused this vocabulary into much of his work.

A butterfly poised
On a tender orchid,
How sweetly the incense
Burns on its wings      Matsuo Bashō

SPLASH AND DASH

In the sun sometimes makes a big difference in seeing the details of my Ao+ glazed pieces. In this case, a small khaotique slipped cap jar decorated in a splash and dash style though there is some rhyme and reason to it which may seem hard to believe. The black slip was applied rather quickly in a very spontaneous manner that I have repeated on pots for quite a long while, what is rather interesting is that at some points, where there is black slip under the gosu style surface, there is a neat, droozy quality that adds a bit of subtlety to the overall surface. From this firing way back in 2025, there were several of these smaller cap jars made to fit neatly between some vases that were ordered which made for a nice, full kiln. I need to remember to wait for the sun to come out, a rare occurrence these days to photograph this particular glaze surface as it brings out the effects and truer nature of the pieces than relying on a 200watt tungsten bulb, once again all natural is the best way to go!

HAGI NERIAGE

If memory serves me, the very first piece of Hagi neriage pottery I ever encountered was a faceted vase form by Yamato Yasuo. The vase was a variety of earthy tones covered in a semi-transparent ash glaze which created an insight into the geology of the throwing. This neriage koro was made by Yamato Tsutomu, son of Yasuo and as one would expect, it shows many of the same characteristics and overall sensibility. The neriage that surrounds this koro has an array of earthy tones and pattern like the side of a hill, cleaved open and covered in a wisp of mist circling the form adding a dimension to the pot that keeps the eye engaged before moving on and upward to the lid. Thrown and patterned in a similar fashion, the lid has a grouping of triangular piercing dedicated to the function of the pot, it is simple and direct and completes the package in part by echoing the pattern at the bottom of the three footed base. Though clearing maneuvering within his father’s footsteps, Yamato Tsutomu works within a tradition begun by the father and now passed on to son and future generations.

WHAT A PAIR III

Illustrated is a pair of Shigaraki, haikaburi chawan by Kohyama Yasuhisa framed with sunlight and shadow. While I have posted these separately previously, I had actually forgotten that this pair were like passing ships in the night, one mine and the other going to a far-off collector. At any rate, I felt these qualified for the “what a pair” commentary as there are many similarities and differences between them as if no two snowflakes are alike, the same can be said for some potters; their pots and how they work, especially where wood firing is involved. On the left, the form is both lower and wider with an array of distinct effects while the taller, more compact bowl on the right has that wangata sensibility dominated on the face by a deep, dark crust of ash built up due to the intensity of wood and flame. Forgotten photo, now surfaced and posted, showing not one but two chawan by a potter of favored status and everyone knows, the only thing better than one is of course, two.

ONE AND DONE?

Illustrated is a stoneware handbuilt bottle with thick impasto slip and my Oribe glaze surface. Like with other one and done pots, this came about by using up the cut away slab pieces from slabs used for hump molded tray forms. What I was left over with were these unique shapes which immediately made me think of this form. Once assembled I took a few minutes and threw a neck/ mouth to complete the form, dried it out a bit and attached it to the slab body hoping they were close enough in consistency. I “sacked” it (in a plastic bag) for a day and then applied the thick impasto slip and once out of the bisque, no losses, no cracks and the neck was still firmly attached. A quick bath in three different glazes and though it ran a small amount, overall not too bad for a one and done made out of scrap slabs of very specific shapes. I am not thinking this is something I am going to chase to the ends of the earth but it was a neat way to spend a half and hour and a couple less pounds of clay that would have had to have been reconstituted, in other words, a win-win.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Over the years I have seen and handled quite a few pots by Tsukigata Nahiko. In that time I have seen a wide array of descriptive terms used when signing the box where sometimes a pot is just, “Oni-Shino” and other times it is “Kujaku Oni-Shino” or any number of other descriptions. To this day, I am never quite sure where Tsukigata draws the line, well a fine line in how exactly he decides to describe a piece, telling you exactly what you are looking at, but what’s in a name after all?  

The pot that got me thinking about this again is this particular Shino, wood fired chawan, the box is clearly marked Ko-Shino while accompanying the pot is a personal letter by the potter in which he refers to the piece as Oni-Shino, together with this letter is also a placard (with corresponding number) from his exhibition where it is clearly written; Oni-Shino Chawan along with the original price. Pardon me if I am a bit confused but I think I would have originally gone with the box inscription first and foremost but the two “goes-withs” do leave me wondering, which is it and is the box or the letter the best way to describe the bowl? I think I will stick with the hako-gaki and assume when it was boxed, Ko-Shino was exactly what it was, end of story.

HERE & NOW

I have to admit; this particular pot really tests my memory. If memory serves me correctly, this pot was fired while I was at the studio of Kohyama Yasuhisa back in 1993 and the bio and box signature at least add some credence to that thought. Back in 1993, the use of 35mm slide and regular film did not afford one the option to takes hundreds and hundreds of photos so I was a bit careful about what I photographed and sketched but pots of this form and size tend to stand out in my memory and searching out old photos and images has proved fruitless to date.  

At any rate, here is a classic Shigaraki (haikaburi) mentori henko by Kohyama Yasuhisa circa 1993, the form is rather strong and simple yet it cuts a rather imposing figure sitting on a shelf or desktop. The form is ever so slightly articulated by the impressions, the marks created by the wire cutting process that has been accentuated during the firing. There are distinct “zones” of ash fall with the shoulder and mouth receiving the heaviest amount of buildup down to the base which shows evidence of sitting in a small amount of charcoal during the firing. Also as you can see in the photo, the mouth of the vase is large and well supported by the broad nature of the overall base, body of the piece. In reality, it doesn’t really matter when and where but rather that I had the chance to see and study the piece in the here and now.

WBW 1/21/2026

I kind of thought this Odyssey (Homer) inspired large ishime-ji wall bowl would be a perfect “way back Wednesday” post. I can’t remember exactly when this was made but likely around 2000 or so. The bowl is stoneware, maybe 20” across with incised decoration with inlaid white against the black-grey engobe. I started making these Homer influenced pieces back in the mid-90s after deciding to re-read THE ODYSSEY (and THE ILIAD) and they were great fun to make if not a bit tricky to inlay the white against the background, also a play on ancient Greek pottery. I am often reminded of the George Santayana's quote; "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”, maybe revisiting and remembering old work isn’t such a bad thing where repeating it brings new perspectives.

EARLY

Illustrated is a rather stoic, formal and early Shino vase by Tamaoki Yasuo. What’s that you ask, just how early is this kinuta hanaire? With fortune smiling, this boxed vase came with a small catalogue, all in B&W from an early exhibition at Kuroda Toen dated Showa 47 (1972) and while I am sure there are earlier pieces, this is the earliest, definitively dated piece that I have encountered. Like much of Tamaoki’s early work, this pot is sturdy, and as I mentioned very formal in presentation, the proportions are strong and overall relies on the deliberate nature of the glazing to add movement to the piece. There is a simple, Momoyama influenced landscape painted across the surface where areas of one layer of Shino moves over the rich red surface, creating brushstrokes of liquid movement. This pot is as good an example of Tamaoki’s work for the period and foreshadows what is to come where formality gives way to his more casual and liberated pieces, animated by form and surface learned over decades of a dedication to clay, glaze and firing where, “my work, which is in a state of searching and searching, will go on*”.

 (* Tamaoki Yasuo, 1992)

葛屋香合

I found this crunchy, barnacle encrusted little fellow hiding in plain sight, mixed among toy cars, old transistor radios and other bric-a-brac in the offerings of a general, second-hand dealer on the web. While that was interesting enough in the discovery, the fact of who, what, where and when was even more intriguing to me, obviously a Japanese Shigaraki kogo, made sometime prior to 1992 and by Kohyama Yasuhisa. For anyone who knows Kohyama’s work, the firing, well the surface is something of an anomaly considering his preference for quiet, restrained surface development but this little gem must have been somewhere where the fullest weight and ferocity of the firing came to bare as if laser focused on this diminutive and limited lump of clay formed into a traditional Japanese house complete with thatched roof (kuzuya-kogo, 葛屋香合).     

I should mention, sometimes when a piece like this comes along, I can’t help but be pleased as punch. First off, I love diminutive pieces, secondly, I couldn’t ask for a more intense surface and third it is by a potter who's work I truly admire and acquiring a piece just outside of the normal body of work rarely hurts my feelings. I am glad I made that one more click on the mouse to encounter this Kohyama Yasuhisa kogo, small or not, it has a large presence and an even longer impact with a surface that at least in my experience is not often encountered.