When I first saw this chawan
and the accompanying photos, there was no real specific potter that sprung to
mind and at first glance my inclination was that it would pan out to be a
Hamada school bowl. I was far a field in my assessment as the bowl is actually
by Bizen master and Ningen Kokuho, Fujiwara Kei who was known to have made kohiki,
Hagi, Oribe, Shino, Temmoku and Seto-guro among other styles and honestly the
form threw me way off base. After doing a bit of thinking about it, it dawned
on me that this form is not that different than some of the more classical
Bizen chawan he had made so in the kantei process this should have lead me
closer to identifying the actual maker. Secondly, Kaneshige Kyosuke, son of Kei
and younger brother of Yu made a number of Oribe pieces with exactly this glaze
so this really should have been the tip off that the teabowl was no oridinary
green bowl. It is easy to rush to quick judgments regarding makers, age,
quality and style of pots but I need to remember, there is always more to learn and sometimes slow and steady
will win the race.
"Hesitancy in judgment
is the only true mark of the thinker." Dagobert D. Runes (1902-1982)
.JPG)