There are a lot of books in
sets and series that were published in Japan on post-war (Showa era) pottery
during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. I really like this era pottery and the pots
that were made, there is a strength and honesty to these pieces but that is not
to say that pottery of the Heisei era is any less honest or lacks strength, it
is just that there seems to be a distinct difference in the pieces of these two
eras. Many of the post-war era potters trained the potters of the late Showa
and Heisei eras imparting a distinct skillset and sense of tradition which
served as the genesis of the pottery of today. As you thumb through these older
book sets and dictionaries I am immediately struck by how direct, often stream
lined and simple the pots are coming out of the post-war up into the 1980s, I
truly enjoy these pots as many seem to have a lot to say without trying hard to
do so and are a tremendous blend of the
technical and tradition vision that drives pottery making even to the present
day.
Illustrated is an early
chaire, circa Showa go-ju yon (1979) by the now veteran Hagi potter, Hatano
Zenzo (b.1942). Studying under Yoshiga Taibi (1915-1991), Hatano learned a
strict sense of form, glaze and firing from his master and it shows in both his
earlier works and his pottery of today. The wheel thrown and crisp form is
accentuated by the wonderful blushing and zirconium (?) crystals speckling the
surface with a stiff flattened shoulder capped off by the lid. Though over
three decades old, the pot is a distinct reminder that the pottery of the Showa
era is as fresh as ever.
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