Back in 1985 I visited the
exhibition; THE WAY OF TEA; AMERICAN ART FOR THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY, this
was to be my first encounter with chadogu made by Westerners in an earnest
fashion and not simply as imitators or copyists. The works were an insight as
to how a group of American craftsman and artists saw and interpreted the
objects that they studied and admired capturing the essence but not necessarily
tied to absolute tradition. Since that time, I have encountered quite a few
people whose works are inspired by Chanoyu and these individuals are from all
over the globe creating works based on Japanese originals but they are a unique
blend of the archetype and the individual. The illustrated Hagi tebachi is just
such an object created by Scandinavian transplant and Hagi native; Bertil Nils
Persson. Bertil Nils Persson was born in
Sweden in 1940 and ended up working for Royal Copenhagen in Denmark prior to a
trip he made to Japan. Once in Japan he began a seven year apprenticeship in
Hagi and has been at home there ever since. Highly admired for his decorative
and functional work, Persson is considered one of the most popular potters in
Hagi and has even received the Distinguished Cultural Service Award (2002) for
Hagi City for his efforts to preserve and contribute to the Hagi tradition. I
find this to be one of those wonderful vessels that synthesizes the
Scandinavian and Japanese traditions effortlessly to make an individual work
that is neither a copy nor a simple imitation.
You can see more of this
Hagi tebachi over at my Trocadero marketplace by clicking on the link;
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