I
debated whether or not to put up this blog post as I didn't want to seem
preachy but after thinking about it for some time, here it is. This started
recently when I put up a classic Seto-Guro chawan by Arakawa Toyozo on my Trocadero
marketplace a while back with POR (Price On Request) in regards to the price, a
piece vetted in Japan by several reputable sources I should add. A number of
inquirers asked about the price and admitted it was out of their price range or
simply said thank you but two in particular were surprisingly different. The
first thought the chawan should be drastically less expensive and the other
thought the price positively outlandishly overpriced. This particular inquirer let
me know that he had an extensive collection of potters like Kato Tokuro, Hamada
Shoji, Kawai Kanjiro, Rosanjin and of course Arakawa Toyozo. In fact he owned
two Arakawa chawan and both were bought for less than $1500. Truth be told, I
am not a fan of discussing values and prices but in this instance I thought it
somewhat important and relevant. I asked him about his pieces and he sent me
links to the sites from which they were purchased and I have to admit the pots
did not look anything like any Arakawa I have ever seen; making me more than a
bit suspicious regarding their apocryphal and questionable origins. In the past
couple of years I have seen several Toyozo chawan for sale at just under 4,000,000
yen so how can one expect and honestly believe that they can buy a chawan by
one of the most important Japanese potters of the 20th century or any of these
top level potters for less than $1500? In the end, I guess it is true, you get
what you pay for.
Illustrated
is a page/price list from a dealers catalogue for a Shino chawan by Kato
Tokuro. I simply picked this piece to showcase how costly pots by the really
big potters can sell for. At 12,000,000 yen (roughly $99,000 at todays
conversion rate) it is easy to see that great work brings great prices. I guess
I won't be buying this chawan any time soon.
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