Illustrated is a rather simple,
functional and direct Shino chawan that
is as much about the beginning as it is anything else. This robust Shino chawan
was made by Tsukigata Nahiko sometime during the early 1960s and is the
earliest teabowl by him that I have ever seen and the bottom of the box has a
large archaic looking red seal stamped on it that looks like something out of
the middle ages. Thrown out of a familiar looking clay, the body was first
dipped in an iron slip and then a Shino glaze and where his fingers held the
bowl, rich red patches punctuate the surface along with areas where the slip
has worked its way through the glaze to create a sense of chaos and reaction.
The shape of the bowl is a bit conservative but if you look carefully you can
see what will become the more classic Tsukigata foot and the space he uses at
the base, lift of the pot and the shadow line all give hints as to where they
will evolve. Though this was just the beginning for Tsukigata Nahiko, he could
have easily been content with marrying the styles of Momoyama and his master
but he set about an arduous and determined route and found his way to the path
of where demon Shino and the ferocity of the flame meet head on.
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