FUJINA-YAKI

I wonder if I would sound cynical if I said that after the initial wave of mingei potters and their offspring and students the movement has become a bit distilled more to the idea than the practice of the original intent and ideals? I am not saying the folk craft movement has ground to a halt but rather much of the idealism and enthusiasm of the drive seems to be less pervasive than it was in the 1960s and 1970s. The initial group find common ground with William Morris and John Ruskin who pioneered the Arts & Crafts movement under the guidance and philosophies of Yanagi Soetsu, Bernard Leach and Hamada Shoji spread these ideals among a wide group of their students and it was a determined group of three of these students that took steering the helm of the movement thru the end of the 20th century. Under the guiding light of Hamada Shinsaku, Shimaoka Tatsuzo and Funaki Kenji, all three Hamada pupils, the basic ideals of mingei pottery made there way into another generation of potters who incorporated the teaching and simple nobility of the movement in to their works, folk craft or otherwise.  As mentioned one of the three biggest proponents of the second wave of mingei potters was Funaki Kenji (1924-1997) who made this simple and honest chawan.      

Illustrated is a chawan made in the mid-1980s by Funaki Kenji, thrown out of a coarse, iron rich clay that was then covered in a white slip. The slip has been very simply combed, a style his father Michitada was also well known for and then the pot was glazed to create lighter areas around the form to show off the decoration. This style of ameyu glaze is another mainstream feature of the signature Fujina-yaki style that Bernard Leach first lauded as classic pottery folk craft , mingei in practice. This chawan is finished off with a simple foot that aids in collecting the glaze and allows the potter to get a firm grip when dipping the piece in glaze as well and the interior of the foot is well excised of clay leaving no fancy or superfluous flourishes as one would expect from this style of pottery. At the end of the day this chawan stands the test of the mingei moniker and though simple and unpretentious it is hard to ignore the "beauty born of use" concept baked in this quiet and capable bowl.