Back, shortly after we moved to central NY State a
friend of mine called and excitedly told me he had found me the most incredible
mizusashi that one could imagine. naturally, I asked for a description or a
photo, after all we are living in the digital age but was told he was going to
pack it up and ship it to me and it was a house warming gift. Days passed, then
a week, then two and I decided to ask, how was it shipped, strapped to a herd
of snails pointed in the approximate direction and was told his car broke down
and he just hadn't made his way to the post office, I would just have to wait
for the most exceptional, incredible mizusashi known to man. Several more weeks
passed and one day while working in the studio the postman showed up with a
somewhat large box for a mizusashi but I figured it was just well packed. As
soon as I opened the box, I knew something was not quite right as the contents
we not likely ceramic and the weight was off. As I pulled and cut away foam
paper, newsprint and bubble wrap the piece emerged, not a Japanese mizusashi
but rather a Danish Modern ice bucket designed by Jens Quistgaard for Dansk in
1950. Made out of staved teak with a waterproof liner on the interior, the
Quistgaard ice bucket is a classic marriage of traditional and modern Scandinavian
design and has proven to be one of my favorite "mizusashi" that could
have been that I have every received as it was a gift from a great and caring friend.
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