Over three decade of looking
and handling Japanese pots, I have seen thousands of pieces by Hamada Shoji and
probably handled at least two or three hundred. In that time I would like to
think I have become rather familiar with his style but what always amazes me is
that just as I think that, some anomaly shows up, something quite out of the
ordinary. Sometimes the form is unusual, a one off so to speak, other times it
is a decoration that I have never seen and at other times a combination of
both. Recently a friend sent me a group of photos of a vase that fit just that
description, unique form and casual and spontaneous decoration that I have
never encountered in book, catalogue, magazine or in hand. I wonder just how
those pieces come about, what was the motivation, the inspiration for those
pieces. Then it dawns on me, they happened because they could, they happened as
a test, a trial and experiment, a step toward something in his mind's eye that
needs to be worked out, after all, every solid and repeated pot, started
somewhere and with the first step to solidifying the idea.
The same can be said about
the work of Tsukigata Nahiko, I have a pretty indepth understanding of his pots
predating his Oni-Shino right up until 2006. I have seen quite a few pieces, handled
quite a few as well and have literally well several thousand illustrations from
books, catalogues and exhibition catalogues and photos and like with Hamada, I
thought I had a full appreciation of what I could expect. Enter the curve ball,
a friend recently sent me some pictures of a wood fired Shino mizusashi by
Tsukigata Nahiko, the difference is that it is the glaze is varying hues of
gold. This mizusashi, a typical form for the potter is named, KINSEN (Golden
Spring) possibly a play on the term onsen or hot spring, the remarkable thing
about the golden, crystalline coated surface is that it lets you see the pure
form not obstructed by thick layers of iron, Shino and ash giving the viewer an
unexpected treat. After studying the mizusashi for some time I lingered on the
questions of whether or not this surface was accidental, intentional or just
experimental and based on what I think is the chemistry of the glaze, I suspect
it was both intentional and experimental. Having seen and made silver, bronze
and gold toned glazes, I suspect that Tsukigata added manganese and copper in
to a thin Shino glaze wash which he applied to the pot and then placed it
further back in the kiln and wood fired the piece in a more or less neutral
atmosphere resulting in this rather unique pot, even for Tsukigata Nahiko. The
real lesson learned is that when dealing with accomplished potters, one always
needs to expect the unexpected.
"If you do not expect
the unexpected, you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or
trail." Heraclitus
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