NAGANO HAIKABURI

When I first saw this photo I thought that it had many of the characteristics of modern Echizen wood fired pottery but once it arrived a clearer (?) picture of its origin became quite evident. This wood fired chawan is in its signed box which reads; HAIKABURI CHAWAN, TAKAHASHI AKIRA who lives, works and teaches in Nagano more than a stone's throw from either Echizen, Shigaraki or Iga. Despite the location, I stand by my initial impression that it has that Echizen look and as you can see in this picture it is clearly well fired in an anagama kiln with a generous and simple form that has that Ido style appeal with a rugged and ash coated surface from top to bottom and inside as well. According to a brief statement from his 2010 Matsuzakaya exhibition, Takahashi uses a combination of hardwoods, oak and elm fired at 1300 degrees Celsius to achieve the "the shine and color" on the naturally fired pottery creating his own rustic landscape that he prefers. I am sure that some of Takahashi Akira's vision for his surface landscapes comes from living at the base of the "the Japanese Alps where he can see Mount Jonen, Mount Yari and Mount Shirouma from his studio on a clear day".