At first glance the illustration is a
bit ambiguous and certainly out of context but as you look at the photo, you
can catch bits and pieces that may point you in one direction or another. What
you are looking at is the bottom interior of a mizusashi and when you remove
the ceramic lid you are first struck with the iridescent sheen that covers a
great deal of the bottom of the pot which was finished with a crisp swirl to
activate the interior though for most of the pots life, the interior is likely
to remain a mystery to the viewer. In certain respects, lidded pots are like a
well written mystery novel that as you move along from chapter to chapter the
story unfolds and as a reader you are clued in as to what exactly is going on
if you pay close enough attention. I think good pots are just the same, the
allure and attraction of the form, surface and volume of the piece pulls you in
and then you lift the lid to see the mysterious contents of the form, in this
case a rich wood fired surface of
natural ash coating a Shino glaze to add warmth, depth and a sense of nobility
to the pot. For some who have followed along, the pot is a sturdy, powerful
Oni-Shino mizusashi which resembles a pair of stacked stones with a roughly
thrown ceramic lid with this illustrated detail hidden within. I know it is
easy to get lost in the details and lose sight of the whole but for a number of
the truly gifted potters, the great details construct the great pots and in my
opinion, Tsukigata Nahiko had the ability to create details which few can
forget even over a lifetime of looking.
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