Anyone
who is a comic book fan and by extension has interest in the film adaptations
of comics knows the importance of the origins story; it sets the stage, the
mood of the narrative and is the basis for the character development. To that
end, I thought I would relate just how I met Kohyama Yasuhisa and was fortunate
enough to go and study at his studio. Back in 1992 I had luckily struck up a
relationship with Michael Cunningham the curator of Japanese Department at the
Cleveland Museum of Art and at one point he showed me a gift he had recently
received by a potter in Japan. The pot in question was a kamo-tokkuri with a
soft green surface and pebbled texture with incised line decoration around the
piece by Shigaraki potter Kohyama Yasuhisa and at that moment I was just
hooked. A few months later my wife and I were invited to a small dinner party
at Michael's home and when we got there we met a local Cleveland ikebana expert
and Kohyama Yasuhisa and his assistant, Nakamoto Wakae. We talked about the
museum, Japanese arts and of course pottery, we seemed to hit it off and later
that week, Kohyama-san came to our home and looked over our small collection of
pottery as well as my work. Two months later I received several letters from
Japan saying that I could come and study with him for several months, a cycle
of making, drying, firing and unloading. Needless to say, this whole process
and relationship started with a rather brilliant but humble tokkuri.
Illustrated is a classic tokkuri and pair of guinomi by Kohyama Yasuhisa.
Though unadorned with incised decoration, the soft green surface and the
resisted areas tie this set together and could be recognized as Kohyama's work
from well across the room, they have a soft, inviting quality that calls out to
be enjoyed and perhaps fondled just a bit in their use. Taking his cues from
Edo period kamo-tokkuri (duck bottles), Kohyama has added wonderful element to
this unique form which is much more ancient in presentation like the Sueki
wares which he admires but is grounded in sense of modernism that pervaded
Japan as the foundations for his form and designs were being formulated.
However one arrives at this point, there is no denying that just seeing this
form makes one smile just a bit both inside and out.
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