Friday, September 17, 2021

OGAWA MISHIMA

If you happen to like Korean influenced mishima inlay than this mizusashi is certainly for you, a tour de force of decoration created by a master who has dedicated his life to working with primarily white slips, Ogawa Tetsuo. This solid mizusashi is decorated in two large bands of impressed and inlaid decoration with smaller horizontal decoration breaking up the surface a bit and creating a strong and traditional appearance that would be at home in any tea room. After the pot was thrown, the overall decoration was impressed in to the surface where a layer of white slip was then applied and "forced" into the depressed areas and allowed to dry before it was then scraped off likely using a sharp kanna or metal rib. The slip, like a kohiki slip shows wonderful areas of color and blushing through the transparent top glaze that makes for a rather variegated surface that would be impossible to tire of. Though this Buncheong style originated in Korea, Ogawa Tetsuo has managed to grapple with the technique and mastered it along the way and adding to the mishima and kohiki traditions creating pots that converses in his very own voice.