Last
week I put up a blog post regarding a new, old book that I had recently
received by Kuroda Ryoji published in 1968 and put up a picture of a somewhat
early kinuta vase by Tsukigata Nahiko showing where his work stood at about
that time. I mentioned that the front of the book had a handful of color plates
representing the various artists which also included a photo of a rather early
Oni-Shino vase by Tsukigata that would likely have to date from 1966 or 1967
showing how far along this style already was at that time period. The key to
these pieces and what distinguished Tsukigata from his contemporaries is his
use of thick iron in conjuction with the Shino glazes he used which was then
subjected to an intense wood firing in an anagama style kiln in which he
altered the woods and schedule of his firings. I should remark that another key
feature that distinguishes him from other potters is the unique set of forms
that he settled on early on in his career which he would alter and improve upon
over his lifetime. These varying forms differ from his master, Arakawa Toyozo
and draw on but are not wholly based on the aesthetics of the Momoyama era
making Tsukigata a man of his times, modern and feudal all wrapped together in
a variety of unique surfaces that saw they started in the 1960s as can be
clearly seen in this illustration from 1968.
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