OLD JAR, MODERN TIMES

Let's face it, who doesn't love a medieval jar, be it Bizen, Echizen, Tokoname, Tamba, Iga or Shigaraki. A good old jar processes qualities that are taken for granted beyond form, they are imbued with honesty, purpose, utility and humility and these characteristics are written across the form and surface in an unconscious and anonymous way. When I first saw this jar it was as if seeing an antique tsubo, created with tradition and medieval aesthetics in mind but in this case, this is a modern jar, made in modern times but the ideals would seem to be the same between the old and the new.    

This Shigaraki tsubo was made by Ogawa Seiho and was clearly patterned after any number of medieval archetypes in which perfection was not the goal but rather he has dedicated his pottery making after the very same qualities that are admired in old pots. This tsubo is a rather nice size with an ever so slightly leaning posture and the bulk of the face and much of the shoulder around the pot is covered in a rich coat of ash much of which is running down the form creating a perpetual sense of movement. Perhaps one of the best features is the neck and moth and how they were made and terminate showing a casual and unconscious approach to working the clay which again harkens back to the pottery of medieval times culminating visually in an old jar made in modern times. All in all this is a simple, humble pot that despite those characteristics it has a nobility and strength that is likely the most important attribute of jars of antiquity that are the bedrock of this tradition old and new.