COINCIDENCE, I DON"T THINK SO

It is funny how things go, the flow of coincidence (?), pots coming in waves or seeing a group of pots by a potter you have never seen before. Recently I handled a group of pots by Tokoname potter, Kato Yoshiaki (b.1934) who I was acquainted with through illustrations like the one of this wildly glazed Shino mizusashi from a book that I have. In the group was two very nice chawan, one in an older style surface looking like some early Edo tea piece and the other much closer to the pictured mizusashi though not quite as active a surface perched on a high foot with great lift. I was immediately infatuated with his work once I was able to study the pieces, from several different collection in which despite being modern and unique works, the pots all have a very old sensibility to them, that timeless quality that I like with gritty, honest surfaces.  This mizusashi has that quality as well, 1990 or 1890, either is possible though the boldness and posture of form and controlled chaos of the surface put it firmly in the modern camp one can't help but think that it was made during the hectic and creative days of the Meiji era or possibly earlier. It is wonderful to handle a group of pots by a "new" potter and this experience has left me a fan of Kato Yoshiaki's impressive sharkskin style Shino among other surfaces.  

I plan on making a slideshow video of each of the Kato Yoshiaki chawan in the future and will put them up on Youtube and my blog when they are finished.