ADVENTURES OF AN ACCIDENTAL COLLECTOR

I keep saying that when it comes to guinomi (and tokkuri) I am basically an accidental collector but I guess if you are shown something or find something and then collect it, that's not exactly accidental. It is not exactly like I went out on a mid-afternoons walk and just stumbled across a guinomi lying in the grass, picked it up, put it in my pocket and brought it home to add to the collection of guinomi. There is purpose and intent behind the purchase but I will say in the defense of my characterization that it is exceedingly rare that I wake up and think to myself, "today I want to buy a guinomi", on the other hand, a chawan more than likely fits that thought process but a sake cup just not that likely. That being said , recently I was shown a rather nice guinomi that even the chawan collector in me said, we really should own that little cup.   

Illustrated is an overall impromptu picture of a Kumano Kuroemon Kuma-Shino guinomi that I posted up the interior of a short while back. Though only a guinomi as with most Kumano pieces this is a handful with a surface to match its size and energy with areas of thick, fractured Shino mingling with unglazed and ash coated areas painting a narrative that only "the Bear" could. Perhaps my favorite feature of this piece is the meandering lip which reminds me of rolling hills, a landscape that I just haven't seen before but am glad to have visited.