GEM

Acting like a macrocosm of Oni-Shino, I am made to think of the concept of ko-uchu (miniature universe) while studying this enticing chaire by Tsukigata Nahiko. Though not necessarily a rarity Tsukigata did not leave a tremendous amount of chaire, with chawan and mizusashi outnumbering this particular form, though most of his chaire are expertly created as both functional pot and visual and contemplative treat. The pleasant and full shape of this wonderful gem like pot is enhanced by the use of iron and Shino glazes. It is completed with an accumulation of natural ash produced during the intense wood firing that has left trails of iron infused ash running down this piece. Appearing like a miniature of the myriad of tsubo that he made, this chaire has all of the broad characteristics of what Oni-Shino is all about; from the complex layers composed of rich iron, thick and diaphanous Shino and the addition of running ash, defining the form hidden beneath as canvas yet creating a piece of definition, purpose and startling authority. This chaire, like most of his work is compelling, attracting the viewer to drink in the power of the combination of clay, glaze and fire; such is the power of a good narrative at which Tsukigata Nahiko excelled.

THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD

The Shigaraki and Iga works of Furutani Michio are among the most classic, yet subtly modern pots that I have seen. His ability to instill a timeless quality in his work, speaks to his understanding and insight in to what is the essence of old Shigaraki and Iga pottery. This is the journey that Furutani embarked on when he built his first anagama in Shigaraki valley back in the late 1960's, early 1970's. I often speak of dedication to a tradition, style and ideal, but when you survey the body of work left by Furutani Michio, it is obvious that as he worked, he worked with a keen appreciation for material and flame which over time, he became master of. Few wood fire potters of the 20th century have left such a distinct testament to a vision regarding the combining of the old and the new, his mark is measured in each and every pot he made and kiln he built and fired.

Illustrated is a weathered Iga styled lugged vase that has the spirit and appearance of antiquity. Cloaked in a fine sheen of green ash, the posture of the vase is simple with a few errant marks made to accentuate the vertical quality of the body and reign in the viewer at the neck and mouth with a fence influenced design. The lugs anchor the neck to the body and added a strength to the piece that speaks of body, shoulder, neck and mouth in a rather profound way. Looking at vases by Furutani, his pieces rarely looked fussed with, they are appropriate in design and scale and are stripped of any extraneous features, creating perennial vessels that help set a standard for modern Iga and Shigaraki pottery.

"Little do ye know own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the success is to labour."  Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

A TRIO

As I continue to go through old images, here is another blast from the past, a trio of pouring vessels. I have enjoyed working with both vitrifying slips and engobes over the years and continue to do so right through the present while the one surface that I use the most is the ishime (stone) surface. I am constantly trying new things to see where the texture and surface works and where it doesn't on various clays, from cone 6 to 9 and in both oxidation and reduction.  More than a few years back I went through a phase of making groups of smaller pots, teapots and pouring vessels with primal, elementary incised and inlaid designs of which the illustrated trio is an example. Loosely based on found stones, the designs were incised to best articulate the small forms and to give them an ancient, archeological style presence. The bodies were first thrown and then carefully beaten to their current form, with both thrown spout and handles were applied. The decoration around the pots was incised once the clay have gotten quite firm using a sharpened bamboo knife. The surface was applied, a liner glaze used and then fired to about cone 9. Entitled, THE THREE WISEGUYS, this trio was accepted into a juried exhibition and collected by Ceramics Monthly for their permanent collection.

BALANCE

Illustrated is a classic and traditionally crafted Iga mizusashi by master potter, Kishimoto Kennin. Thrown out of a rich Shigaraki clay, the mouth, shoulder, lid and face of the pot are covered in a wonderful layer of glassy green ash as is much of the interior. The rest of the body is painted over in a wet coating of ash that has produced a rich hi-iro fire color that Kishimoto is well known for. To appreciate the Iga work of Kishimoto Kennin, one has to be enamored with a painterly balance of ash and fire color (hi-iro). If one were to look at the hi-iro on his pots as negative space , then there are correlations with the balance created in both Momoyama ink painting as well as calligraphic Zen art.  His pots are meant to show the process of creation and firing with luscious surfaces that showcase the tsuchi-aji of his work. The pots have an organic quality to them that speaks to the viewer of honest craftsmanship, rustic and time worn surfaces that harken back to a much earlier time while decidedly modern in their creation. Though as a potter, Kishimoto is indebted to the past, he uses it as a basis to develop and articulate his own voice, which can be seen in the wide variety of styles and pots he makes.

In Kishimoto's Iga work, there is a tremendous balance and harmony between clay, fire and fire color and this is what makes his works so immediately recognizable. For Kishimoto's works, in Iga or any of the other styles he has mastered, it is the nuances, the small details that turn the pedestrian in to the pioneering. The placement of indents where the pot was lifted off the wheel, the way the nearly regular lip was defined by using one deft stroke to tear the lip and the gesture created by using his rib while the pot rotated on the wheel, all  of these details defined over decades of making and experiencing pottery that become second nature, unconscious actions that define a pot and its unending conversation.

You can see more of this pot by going over to my Trocadero marketplace;

http://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/catalog/query.php

 

KI-SETO II

From my perspective, Ki-Seto is one of the hardest surfaces to work out just right. Many modern Ki-Seto glazes are all wet, translucent and flat and just don't do justice to what the original intent of the style was. Looking at older pieces, the drier, scorched aburage surfaces are what cloak the treasured bowls of the Momoyama and Edo periods. In modern times, potters like Arakawa Toyozo, Kato Tokuro, Kagami Shukai, Hara Kenji, Hori Ichiro and Suzuki Goro create works based on the Momoyama archetypes with surfaces that do justice to the original vision of the glazes. At times, it seems that truly great modern Ki-Seto pottery is rare and not that often seen, but there are always examples that emulate the spirit of those great old pots.

Illustrated is a Ki-seto chawan by Suzuki Goro. Suzuki, something of a renaissance potter, has mastered the skills and styles necessary to create inspired works in a wide array of styles from Ki-Seto to Shigaraki pottery. This chawan is simply thrown, with the slightest amount of looseness present creating a subtle rhythm to the pot. Decoration is fluidly incised about the piece with highlights of copper added before dipping the bowl in a thin coating of Ki-Seto. The results are both intoxicating and timeless with dry and wet areas complimenting the piece. The decoration calls to mind the sparse decoration of old Ki-Seto ware and create a lyrical, even poetic statement in total harmony with the chawan.

ANONYMITY

There is something a bit liberating, even rewarding about acquiring a pot that is shrouded in anonymity. To start with, the pot can be judged strictly for what it is. Through form, execution, decoration and the finish of the piece; the pot is only what stands in front of you. Simple or complex, the superfluous attributes of artist, value and relative importance are stripped away by something as simple as the lack of a mark or signature or the presence of its original attested box; in essence, a pot for pots sake and nothing more.

In a previous blog post, I mentioned one of my favorite pots is a pierced Oribe cylinder candlestick with a forged iron nail attached inside the bottom on to which a candle is stuck. The piercing is a repeated circle, square, triangle design and the pot came to me and the seller as an anonymous pot. The candlestick, not large in scale or in any way intent on altering the field of ceramics, is one of the most honest, purposeful and enjoyable  pots that I own. I am not saying its anonymity is necessarily responsible for how I perceive it, but it is the unknown nature of the origins of the piece that leads to endless conversations and continuous conjecture. In an odd way, this adds to my enjoyment of the piece and it is exactly the constant conjecture that keeps the piece fresh.

Illustrated is a chawan who's identification has eluded me up until this point in time. Thrown out of a reddish-brown clay and quickly faceted, once leather hard, the piece was dipped in a thin white slip. Later glazed in a slightly aqua toned ash clear glaze there are thick green drips which defy gravity about the lip. Once fired the teabowl was enameled in red and green. The kodai is crisply cut and a square seal is present within, though covered over in white slip. This piece has remained anonymous and the enameling could lead one to think Okinawan in origin, I have my suspicions which lead me to one of several Mashiko potters. Who knows, I may stumble on to a similar piece and figure out who made this or someone else may recognize the piece and clue me in. However it plays out, it is a nice bowl in hand and the anonymity just keeps the bowl that much more intriguing.

BLOGGIN'

A friend of mine used to have a blog which he started back in the 90s. Though ostensibly about the art of blade smithing, the blog was as much about living, working and being as anything else. Earlier this year, Don Fogg discontinued his blog for various personal reasons ending  a narrative that many were keen to read, learn from and follow. It was his blog that first turned me on to the blog scene and it never occurred to me to start my own, after all, what did I have to say? In fact, though it came up from time to time from friends and collectors, my mind always went back to a cartoon I had seen (see illustration). As a potter and collector (and occasional human being), I wasn't sure what would be my motivation and as an occasional dealer, I didn't have any specific agenda, rather my sole interest was in what the pots had to say and possibly, where they fit in the aesthetic, historical and modern narrative. That is exactly when I realized, that would be the purpose of my blog; what do pots have to say and how do they command and converse in the environment in which they are put. It certainly sounds simple enough.

As I started my blog, it immediately became clear that as I wrote about potters and pots, as well as my own work, it helped clarify what I was thinking and sharpened the dialogue I was having with the pieces I would see or come in contact with. The blog in truth was as much for myself as it was for anyone else. The "assignments" were simple, using a pot that was sent my way, a picture that I was discussing with another collector or a pot that I have enjoyed over time, I would take a few moments and jot down my impression, thoughts and a possible context for the piece in as brief a time as possible. This forced me to put words to paper that were not overly thought out and that resonated to me at various levels. In many respects, brevity would keep things from become overly wordy, over thought or mired in any form of "art speak".

Illustrated is the blog cartoon that I referenced. I am not sure where it comes from, who the owner or originator of the piece is, but I find it so poetic regarding blogs. Despite my best attempts, I have at times found it necessary to highlight my short travels (and travails), various cat nonsense, food, music and movies that I like. I guess it is life imitating art, with not that much to say, why not blog about it?

MAKING, NOT COPYING

Like most pottery, there is Bizen that I do and don't like, then there is Kaneshige Michiaki (1934-1995). Michiaki was an outstanding potter who made a subtle yet substantial contribution to Bizen-yaki prior to his all too soon departure. Son of legendary Bizen potter, Kaneshige Toyo, brother to Kosuke (b. 1953) and father of Iwao (b. 1965), Michiaki's career was filled with acolades and milestones including his contact with many of his father's circle of friends, such as Arakawa Toyozo and the highly influential Kitaoji Rosanjin and Isamu Noguchi at the family kiln. Kaneshige Michiaki was also named Okayama Prefectural Intangible Cultural Property in 1990. In the end, what set Michiaki apart from the throngs of Bizen potters was a distinct vision and firing style that is obvious when looking at his body of work or a singular pot. The way in which he handled clay, created vessels and fired his pottery speaks of a potter who made full use of the past while striving to add something to the tradition amplified by his own powerful voice; from guinomi to tsubo, his individuality is echoed in his pottery.

"Tradition (dento) is sometimes confused with transmission (densho). Copying Momoyama period (1568-1615) pieces is transmission. Producing contemporary pieces incorporating Momoyama period techniques is tradition. Tradition consists of retaining transmitted forms and techniques in one's mind when producing a contemporary piece. Tradition is always changing. A mere copy of an old piece has not changed, it is nearly the same as its prototype of three hundred years ago. Tradition consists of producing something new with what one has inherited." An excerpt from an interview with Kaneshige Michiaki conducted by Robert Moes and published in MODERN JAPANESE CERAMICS IN AMERICAN COLLECTIONS.

Illustrated is a squared and pierced Bizen vase by Kaneshige Michiaki. The rich purple-red fire color surface is highlighted by ash which has settled on the vase during the intense firing adding to the geometric design repeated through the sides and top of the vessel. The structure appears just a bit visually precarious, yet in reality the form is bolstered by the creative experience of the potter and the heat of his Bizen kiln.

BLUE MONDAY XVII

Rendered in varying tones of back ink with subtle washes and blue water color, this scroll captures all of the beauty of a masterpiece pot in two dimensions. Painted on paper, this graceful and towering vase has a fluid decoration as only Kawai Kanjiro could render them and at the foot in a rounded cartouche he has signed the scroll using the single kanji; KAN. I am more than particularly fond of preparatory drawings, sketches, water colors, shikishi and scrolls that outline an potter's thoughts in 2-D and this scroll certainly alludes to the brilliance of his masterful, three dimensional forms. Kawai Kanjiro has left a large number of ephemera to document his creativity as well as a good group of calligraphy and paintings created solely as two dimensional works of art. This particular scroll stands somewhere in-between preparatory drawing and work of art and would certainly be exhilarating to see it re-united with the pot which it may have inspired.

GONE FOREVER

A few years after my wife and I were married, we were at a friend's home, they were antique dealers, my wife saw a pin she fell in love with, though out of our price range. We discussed the pin and saved up for it and when we went back, it had sold. We were admonished for not just buying it when we saw it and were given a sound piece of advice, "once sold, it is gone forever". A couple of years later we were in another antique shop and in the case, that very same and exact pin, which we bought. Though that particular event has given hope once a piece goes elsewhere, I am still a realist and am of the mind, "see it, love it, buy it", though circumstances and finances are not always co-operative.

Over the years, several pots that I had pursued, but got away, have made their way back through some circuitous adventure or another, the Furutani Michio chawan I wrote about being a prime example. One recent piece springs to mind as I muse about various advice and aphorisms that were have been given. This particular pot was a chawan that showed up at a Japanese gallery on the web about three and a half years ago. I immediately tried contacting the dealer only to find out that the piece was only purchased just minutes prior. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed even though the financial timing was all wrong. Fast forward almost exactly one year and the dealer that bought it decides to put it up for sale on yet another website. If the timing was bad last time, this time it is impossible as we were saving up for a new roof and yes, a roof takes precedence even over pots, or that is at least how my wife thinks. I point the pot out to a collector friend who immediately buys the bowl, gone again. Another two years passes and the collector friend who bought it decides to restructure and refocus his collection and collecting and asks if I want to buy the bowl. Being the third chance to buy the pot I couldn't let daily impediments get in the way and the bowl comes our way along with a generous payment plan, third time ends up being the charm. Finally, the chawan arrives exactly where I thought it should be all along and the moral of the story; it is great to have friends and It would seem that forever is not necessarily as long as we have always been lead to believe.

Illustrated is the chawan in question. Perched atop a high foot and resembling the wobbly posture of the Mine(no)Momiji chawan, this Shino bowl is by Tsukigata Nahiko and the abstract decoration is in fact calligraphy on the omote, face of the piece. This large and generous bowl, rich and over flowing with iron and feldspar, has all of the tell tale characteristics of Tsukigata's work and despite its size, it has a wonderful feel in hand and a presence that beckons the viewer to pick it up. Named the "Autumn Rose"( Aki-bara) the bowl has the posture and presence of a bowl from a much earlier time; Tsukigata infused his study of Momoyama ceramics, his master's work and harnessed his own creative spirit to produce a bowl that adds an innovative twist to the tradition of Shino pottery.

TRANSFERED HISTORY

Having a little extra time on my hands, I am still in the process of getting negatives and slides transferred to digital images seeing moments of my pottery history unfold image by image. In a recent group of slides, I came across some more wood fired pots, which I am guessing date to about 1993-1995. I am not 100% sure were these were fired, but, at least I am sure they were wood fired. Illustrated is a tall, hoso-mizusashi style form that was thrown out of a rough Kentucky clay which I had dug and is approximately 12" tall to the knob. The hollow knob was thrown when the lid was thrown and was a technique that Kirk Mangus used on many of his pots at Kent State University. It is always interesting seeing old pots that I have made and wondering where they are now and are they still being enjoyed. Some of my pieces have made interesting travels; one piece bought in Cleveland, moved to NYC, then Toronto, Australia and back home to Israel where it is today. There are still hundreds and hundreds, possibly thousands of slides/ negatives to go through, I wonder what other pieces I will see and if I even remember throwing them!

BLUE MONDAY XVI

Illustrated is a simple Persian blue lidded koro, incense burner by Kato Kenji. Using his trademark design under his classic glaze, the small pot is well articulated by his well practiced and time proven brushwork. The simple, pinwheel inspired cutouts further animate the piece while creating vents for the wafting incense to leave the pot. Though I am sure Kato Kenji made possibly hundreds of these koro, in their simplicity and purpose, they never fail to please the eye.

UTILITARIAN ELEGANCE

Illustrated is a rather simple and practical gosu glazed covered serving bowl by Kawai Takeichi. As one would expect, having spent a long while under the tutelage of Kawai Kanjiro, this piece based in total function has a utilitarian elegance in both design and execution. The knob was made to both compliment the form/lid as well as to be easy to grasp and pleasant to the eye, the flange around the area where the lid sits serves as an area that fits the hand well as a built in handle all around the form. It is these conscious and unconscious developments that are seen in many Kawai school pots that create a distinct look which is easily identifiable as the works of the master and his students. There is an undisputed brilliance to the forms and surfaces of Kawai Kanjiro which he passed on to his students by sheer fact that they were surrounded by his work, both finished and in progress; a great student, sees the work and has most of his questions answered for him of which Kawai Takeichi was certainly among the most accomplished.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2014

Borrowing from the well know toast; "here is to hoping that the best of 2013 is the worst of your 2014!". Happy New Year to everyone, best of pottery making for potters and happy hunting for all you collectors out there.

Illustrated is a nice Iga tokkuri and guinomi by Furutani Kazuya, son and student of the late, great master potter, Furutani Michio. KANPAI!