Illustrated
is a small Bizen hanging vase hosting a vivid red chrysanthemum purportedly made
by Takahara Kunihiko (B.1946), brother of Takahara Shoji. The original owner
bought the vase in Bizen at a studio and jotted down Kunihiko's name (no box)
but the mark is not deciphered, so I am calling it a nice, functional Bizen
vase with a large botamochi area on the face surrounded by ash and vivid
flashing here and there. The pronounced throwing rings and strong attached lugs
animate the pot which is conversant without its guest, but the pot has been
brought to life, in essence fulfilled, by the rich, single chrysanthemum, which
completes the vase both aesthetically and functionally. It is always nice to
see pots in use, out of their storage boxes and away from their sterile
displays as the potter most often envisioned them. I can not help but be
reminded of the famous Yanagi Soetsu maxim; "beauty born of use" and
for a vase, what could be better than a traditional flower?
"Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold." (As You Like It) William Shakespeare
.JPG)