BONJI

Illustrated is a carved wood panel from a catalogue I found circa 1983. The panel was carved by Tsukigata Nahiko and portrays a bonji or an ancient Sanskrit character which originated in Northern Indian and through centuries of transmission made their way in to Japan and were used by a variety of Buddhist sects for mantra(s) and sutra. This is the first bonji I have seen carved by Tsukigata and the choice of wood, style of carving and placement within the panel are just wonderful.

PAINTED SNOW

Illustrated is a casual photo of a superb pot sent to me by a collector friend. Though like the casual photo, the pot is also rich in symbolism and movement with the feeling of being both relaxed and immediate. This horai, iron glazed mizusashi was made by Shimizu U'ichi (1926-2004) and reflects the spirited nature of winter with the balance of the austere black iron and the fluffy white glaze with the quick rendition of the kanji for flower and moon ( and snow just out of view) etched through the white with the finger, like painted snow of a by-gone  and well practiced literati master. Working out of Shiga, originally a native Gojo-zaka potter from Kyoto, Shimizu makes use of clay and materials from the Hira Mountains which divide Kyoto from Lake Biwa and Shigaraki. Beyond creating a unique vision in iron and celadon glazes, the works of Shimizu U'ichi reflect the blend of the rustic,  the cultured and the brevity and serendipitous that is evoked in the environment and pottery that surrounded this 20th century master.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I wanted to take a moment and wish everyone out there a very Happy Holiday and a most joyous New Year. With family, friends or home alone celebrating alone, I truly hope all are moved and filled with the positive and festive sentiments of the season.

Here are two enjoyable if not entirely tradition Christmas classics;

OUT OF TOUCH

Just a quick note to say that I will be out of touch with both computer and blog for a while. Hopefully you can enjoy looking back through some prior posts and try to keep warm and dry during the last days of fall and the determined and obviously unstoppable arrival of winter.

Illustrated is a quick shot of the Kon Chiharu uzukumaru vase from last week's post, basking in a rare moment of sunlight.

NOT THE DRINK

Illustrated is a pot made in the Tang Dynasty style, though many, many years later. This phoenix-headed ewer is glazed in the sancai style made popular during the Tang period (618-906), the body is a softer earthenware with molded handle and beak spout attached. The ewer has a number of sprigged decorations applied around the body and once glazed, the amber form is further highlighted by copper and cobalt accents which accentuate the details and decorations of the form. Though not a piece made during the Tang Dynasty, it certainly represents the spirit of the time and was crafted in a traditional manner, meant to mimic the original processes of ancient China. The origins of these pots spreads across the old Silk Road trade route, originating in ancient Persian and were quickly imitated in their own unique style in China beginning in the early 8th century. In exchange for silks and spices, the Persian merchants traded luxurious silver, pottery and textiles that were highly coveted by the burgeoning nobility of the period. This ewer is certainly a pleasant enough piece and surely as close to an original as I will ever get, looking rather nice up on a shelf and even getting dusted from time to time.

Old Tang Commercial

PHASES

Like the phases of the moon, I assembled this picture to give a 360  panoramic view of the landscape of this Shigaraki vase. Patterned after a classic uzukumaru-gata form pot, this thoroughly modern interpretation is by Niigata resident, Kon Chiharu. Though not a large pot, the manner in which it was made gives it a tall posture which is exceedingly complimented by the intense firing in which the pot was subjected and this bidoro and ash rich surface was expertly crafted. Fired on its side, the landscape has taken on a wonderful array of effects from a sheer sheet of green glass to running ash flows ending in deep green bidoro drips, the most noticeable and evocative hangs, suspended off the lip defying all known principles of reason; but after all, isn't that what wood firing is all about?

"A man always has two reasons for doing anything - a good reason and the real reason." JP Morgan (1837-1913)

JUST ENOUGH SPACE

Illustrated is a small, maybe 7" tall cap jar with ring knob glazed in temmoku and iron red. I made a small group of pots this scale; they are easy to pick up in one hand and have an intimate sense and scale to them. I would think they are rather practical with uses ranging from storing teabags, candy, cat food or sugar. A plus about a smaller jar is that the possibilities are endless as they have just enough space for use and takes much less room than most of the jars that I make, perhaps about as much as a teabowl. It is a bit hard to tell from this photo, but the lid is a richer iron red color with lots of shimmering iron crystals which match up nicely with the crystals that can be seen running down the tendrils of the glaze on the body of the pot. I am pleased with the way the jar came out; simply thrown and simply glazed, this is as close as it gets to making and baking.

TANG POEM

Simple in design, execution and decoration but regal in its bearing, this Tang dynasty influenced melon shaped chaire exudes a sense of luxury and brings to mind the lyrical poetry of that period . As a combination of his father's work, historical archetypes and his own personal expression, this chaire by Kato Kobei VII is a visual gem. The fluted form has rich aubergine tones that define the form vertically while the whole is cloaked in a soft and tranquil amethyst glaze with accents of a stark yellow and green which calls the eye to this sancai influenced pot. Kato Kobei VII has blended not only Chinese and Japanese elements in this distinctly Japanese pot, but has put his own stamp on the style in the manner in which the elements of this chaire were created. Though an amalgam of time and geography, this pot has a sense of being distinctly ancient and modern at the same moment.

"When Cold Mountain (Han Shan) is cold

Ice seals the rocks

Storing mountain-green

The sun shines forth

The ice melts a while

And on this warmth

An old man survives." (An early Tang Dynasty poem by a mostly anonymous poet)

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

When I think of the Japanese art of presentation, I think of this book I have of the work of Rosanjin in use. In one particular picture there is this wonderful table arranged with serving pieces made by Rosanjin with food that was all prepared by some famous chef (sorry, I forgot his name). From simple tempura, sashimi and sushi to elaborate and exquisitely prepared dishes, the presentation is phenomenal. In the case of Rosanjin, the presentation is the completetion of his work, the pottery acts as the canvas and is completed by the food which is presented as the art. It is in the Japanese art of presentation that I am constantly overwhelmed by in both its simplicity and originality. In the art world, how a work of art is presented has many corollaries to that of food. While In Japan I remember seeing a Chojiro chawan in a box from the middle 17th century that was also accompanied by boxes by successive owners including the modern black lacquer box that contained all of the boxes which neatly fit in to one another, 6 in total, like one of those sets of famous Russian matryoshka dolls.

One of the things I admire about Japanese culture is that act of presentation that is seen throughout daily life. From the use of plain to fancy furoshiki wrapping cloth(s) and elaborate mizuhiki knots to the more ceremonial nature of ikebana to the tea room with decorated tokonoma with scroll and flower vase and precisely arranged chadogu; the arts of presentation are alive and well. Specific to pottery, there are pots with multiple boxes, the outer box many times lacquered in a rich black or vermillion lacquer, the kiri boxes bearing the hakogaki or the potter, subsequent owners, dealers, chajin, priests and sometimes ordinary collectors. Together with boxes, many pots have tailored bags, shifuku made of old, rustic or fancy textiles and this practice is obviously not limited to chaire, though it is often times the chaire we most associate with shifuku. Case in point is the illustrated package, a very rich presentation that includes a black lacquer box to house the interior kiri wood box with hakogaki. Inside the kiri box is a wood container, with its own shifuku that houses the chaire within its rich, regal purple crepe silk bag and along with the piece are two shifuku that can be used at various times of year or at differing tea gatherings. All in all a rather luxurious presentation that begs the question, "what's in the box?".

CAN I GET A ROLL WITH THAT, PLEASE?

One of the things that I really like about both old and modern yuteki-temmoku chawan is when the glaze terminates in a thick, gravity defying roll. The glaze roll is both visually pleasing and tactilely engaging adding a definitive characteristic to the area of the kodai.  Illustrated is the kodai of a chawan by Takahashi Wasaburo who I have written about before. Combining his study with iron specialist and Ningen kokuho, Shimizu U'ichi and Shigaraki veteran Ueda Naokata, this chawan is glazed in a thick, dark, rich yuteki-temmoku and the roll of glaze meets up to the wet hi-iro that covers the foot except where the pot was stood on wads during the wood firing. The crisply cut foot fits the chawan well as does the mixture of fat glaze and the effects of the wood kiln to create a unique and well executed kodai that pays tribute to both of his former teachers and his inescapable reliance on tradition.