Looking into the interior of some wood fired pots, is like
looking into one of the many wonders of the world, albeit, manmade and that is what
makes it even more special. For many chawan, the interior becomes the
receptacle for natural ash that is flying around the kiln and needs somewhere
to land and the rear wall of the bowl acts as a trap in which the ash is
caught, builds up and melts into varying hues and thicknesses of glass creating
what is known as shizenyu. In this chawan, though most of the entire chawan is
covered in glassy ash, the interior speaks about the build up on the walls and
the inevitable running into the center of the pot creating a rich, deep olive
green bidoro pool. Immediately adjacent to the pool is a slightly lighter
region where liquid glaze dripped off the underside of the shelf about the
teabowl creating a wonderful effect and adding to the buildup of glass in the
mikomi. Be design, innate experience or serendipity, this Iga chawan by
Furutani Michio heralds the richness and phenomenal firings that he was so well
known for and is still held in great regard by potters and collectors around
the world. There are few Shigaraki and Iga potters whose works show such a
mastery of clay and flame as did Furutani Michio and this chawan is just another
example of both.
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