Over
the years of being around Japanese pottery, the topic of signed wood boxes
seems to be a constant discussion likening pots without boxes to the undesirables
from the Island of Lost Toys. Though I am an absolute believer that if at all
possible a pot should have its original signed box or an attested one, I have
long ago concluded that at the core, I collect pots and the boxes are
secondary, a necessary evil if you will. For those that have been around
collecting off of a specific ubiquitous auction site, the early days was filled
with unboxed, unidentified pots ranging from semi-commercial all the way to
Okabe Mineo, Hamada Shoji, Kawai Kanjiro and even Rosanjin and trust me, few
collectors I know were going to let the lack of a box stop them from
bidding. How I got on this topic was a recent
purchase I made, a rather affordable but unboxed Iga hanaire (Yama-Iga) made by
Furutani Michio. As you can see in the photo, this vase is patterned after a
classic early Iga archetype with wonderfully gestural marks and lugs creating a
somewhat whimsical pot with the addition of a nice firing and ash to wet the
surface and move especially through the incised markings made by the potter. At
the very first glance, this is a classic Furutani Michio pot from form and
posture to the maker's marks and the firing and I think few would need a box to
inform them of its creator. I guess my real point is box or no box there are
some pots that easily make that decision a no-brainer.
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