OLD BOOKS, OLD POT

I guess in the overall scheme of things, this group of old books and old pot aren't really all that old and thinking about it, they aren't really that old in the complete history of 20th century Japanese ceramics. Dating from Showa 56 (1981) the set of books post-date the pot perched up on them that recently arrived by post and was made by Takahashi Rakusai III (1998-1976) though they, the books did make a good momentary platform for an impromptu photo of the chawan. The books have been around for some while and were out as I was working on some info for a friend regarding a recent acquisition he had made but the pot which was expected, more or less only arrived this weekend.    

For some brief context, the chawan was bought off of the rather ubiquitous auction website almost 20 years ago and sat in the box in a closet ever since and while doing some early spring cleaning the teabowl and some other pots were uncovered and several came my way to have a look at by snail mail parcel select. The other pots were of not much interest overall but I thought this Takahashi Rakusai III Shigaraki chawan to be rather nice with a decent firing and a well cut kodai and his seal stamp affixed near the foot. Unlike most of the "Rakusai" bowls encountered which seem to be by Rakusai IV, pots by the third generation show up quite a bit less frequently. Like many of Rakusai III chawan, this is a bit on the small side with a nice thrown rhythm in the clay which makes for a nice surface to add natural ash and hi-iro to during the wood firing process. As I mentioned the kodai is classically cut for the potter and shows a repetitious skill and certainty that leaves no room for hesitation of error. The irony is that as I look through these older ceramic references and playfully fondle this chawan my mind strays to the big question, where would Shigaraki pottery be today if it weren't for Takahashi Rakusai III?