Illustrated
is a phenomenal Bizen chawan by legendary chadogu specialist, Kaneshige Sozan
(1909-1995). This bowl is a perfect chawan; beautiful landscape, simple
utilitarian lip, definitive front and back, fine mikomi and perfect Bizen
kodai, in essence, it rarely gets better than this. Kaneshige Sozan was the younger
brother of Ningen Kokuho, Kaneshige Toyo and spent a great deal of his life as
a pottery nomad, maybe even as an eccentric, wandering from kiln to kiln and
working with various other pottery masters including Ishiguro Munemaro. Sozan's
works were eclectic and it wasn't until later in life that his genius at
traditional Bizen pottery became apparent. Many ceramic scholars and critics
consider the chadogu of Kaneshige Sozan to be among the best made of the 20th
century and by looking at this chawan with its magnificent cascading ash, it is
easy to see why. Though he could have been seen in the shadow of his older
brother, it is exceedingly obvious, that Kaneshige Sozan cast his own shadow
over the pottery and potters of Bizen.
"All
things excellent are as difficult as they are rare." Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677)
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