Thrown and then manipulated
and even pinched, this buffware chawan was made by perhaps my favorite Fudo
painter, Sato Katsuhiko. As I mentioned the bowl is made of a off white, buff
stoneware and then calligraphy was brushed around the surface using a rusty
iron wash which has areas of semi-translucent to opaque qualities that brings
the eye round and round the bowl. Before firing the teabowl was glazed in a
thin clear glaze that accentuates both the clay and decoration which makes for
a rather appealing overall presentation like iron floating under a thin layer
of glass. Living and working in Nara
Prefecture, Sato Katsuhiko began learning pottery making under Tsujimura Shiro
in 1974 and over the years he has created a wide array of works and styles from
Bizen style wood fired pots to painted overglaze enamel pottery, sometsuke ware
and many others including this shoga style chawan. Though I don't exactly
consider Sato a great potter it is rather clear that he gets his message across
in the works that he throws himself as is the case with this chawan, for some
of the other heavy lifting he has had more accomplished potters step in and
create pots that where clay act as his canvas for ideas that flow out of two
dimensions and sometimes in to three. I know I have used the Clint Eastwood
quote before but it is true that "a man has to know his limitations"
and in this case, it is possible that Sato Katsuhiko may have exceeded them.
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