After writing about my
recent Fujiwara Kei experience, I had several people ask to see the chawan in
question. As I have previously explained, the owner did not want the photos put
up. So, I rifled through a bunch of my books and found a very similar chawan,
though in my honest opinion, it is not quite as good as the one I handled. The
chawan I was fortunate to handle was made in 1978, the illustrated chawan was
made sometime between 1974 and 1983. As you can see, the chawan was fired
upside down and where it faced the fire, the ash built up and a rich, fluid,
even molten tamadare flowed down to the lip, now correctly oriented, the
movement seems to be trying to move off the pot, defying gravity. The rich
purple tinged hi-iro is an excellent counterpoint to the ash and paints a very
noble and dignified atmosphere about this chawan. The works of Fujiwara Kei are
unfettered and uncomplicated, they present an honest expressions that is most
welcome among the long standing Bizen tradition.
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