Illustrated is a diminutive Shigaraki sueki inspired tokkuri by
Kohyama Yasuhisa. At first glance it seems a rather simple, useful bottle at
the ready and set to pour with it leaning posture attesting to its eagerness to
pour. The surface has a complex range of shades and textures all created
through the process of making the pot, loading it in a kiln and throwing wood
in to the kiln to reach a desired temperature but as you can guess there is so
much more to it than that. These surfaces have been a lifetime in the making,
trial and error and year after year of making pots and firing them and making
records of results, nuances and changes in the pots themselves after all this
is what wood firing is. The slight lean to the tokkuri as if made to first face
into the ferocity and velocity of the firing and once fired its posture
inviting the user to make use are communicated through this form. There are a
great number of pots that hide their true nature in a cloak of simplicity and
this Kohyama tokkuri is certainly one but as you take the time to really look at
the piece its truest nature is revealed.
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