SHIGARAKI BY WAY OF ECHIZEN

I have had this conversation a number of times over the years, does a potter's location dictate what his pottery is or is labeled? I think of two potters neither of whom works in Shigaraki though there pottery is clearly Shigaraki-yaki; Tsuji seimei and Kon Chiharu. As you can guess there are a number of potters who make distinctively identifiable work though it is made somewhere outside of where the pottery is normally associated. Such is half the case in regards to this sweet little tokkuri as the box is labelled; ECHIZEN SHIGARAKI TOKKURI and was made and fired in Echizen using not Echizen clay but what appears to be a blend of Iga and Shigaraki clays with just the right amount of feldspar inclusions to light up the pot like a star filled evening. The tokkuri is somewhat light weight with a wonderful surface painted in various hues of ash and effects that are as pleasant to feel as they are to just look at all clearly created in a fierce, even ferocious process of the firing.

Made by a Karatsu and Echizen specialist, Miyoshi Kentaro (1953-2018), he first studied and worked in Karatsu before falling under the primal and alluring spell of Echizen-yaki. Miyoshi moved and worked in Echizen creating pottery of both distinct and seemingly polar opposites in terms of pottery, but clay is clay as is firing and he navigated the two tradition for the rest of his life. I should also note that Miyoshi's works were included in the Birmingham Museum of Art's exhibition and catalogue entitled; ECHIZEN; EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF JAPANESE STONEWARE (1995). It is clear in this Echizen-Shigaraki tokkuri that Miyoshi Kentaro enjoyed combining styles and traditions in a cohesive and ineligible manner and as you look at this little pot you can see, like a fine blended whiskey, the various flavors that make up this memorable outcome of his efforts.