IS THE PAST PROLOGUE?

It is really quite a remarkable thing to have a ceramic tradition(s) that runs back thousands of years and it is easy to see why select periods over that course of history become the focal points for modern potters/ ceramic artists as the past is prologue in the shaping of a modern identity. Like several ceramic tradition(s), that of Japan stems from Neolithic times to the present with the Jomon/Yayoi cultures and the medieval and Momoyama eras being poured over and revisited to inexhaustible possibilities, revitalized and reinvented by modern potters, not only in Japan but around the world. All you need do is look back on the early 20th century to see the Bizen, Shigaraki, Shino and many other traditions brought back from the verge of near extinctions by the likes of Arakawa, Rakusai III, Nakazato Muan, Kaneshige Toyo and their contemporaries to see how crucial the earlier medieval and Momoyama eras were and continue to be to Japanese ceramics.

Echizen like many other traditions had their own resurgence starting back at the turn of the 20th century with the aid of the Yamauchi family who did what they could to ensure the "ceramic industry" of the region would survive but in many respects it is the efforts and stewardship of Fujita Juroemon VIII (1922 - 2008) and those that he has taught and trained that has secured the future of this local, long standing tradition. One such potter who has inherited the Echizen tradition and mantle is Nishiura Takeshi. As you can see from this classic Echizen tokkuri it is based on a medieval styled archetype using iron rich indigenous clay, fired in a kiln and manner that goes back centuries to produce this surface that is easily distinguished among the other wood fired traditions of Japan.

You can see more if this Echizen tokkuri on Trocadero by following this link: https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1409227/CLASSIC-MODERN-ECHIZEN-TOKKURI-BY-NISHIURA-TAKASHI