JUST AROUND THE CORNER

If memory serves me, the very first piece we ever purchased off the internet by way of Japan was a plump, very well fired en-yu kushime tsubo by Iwabuchi Shigeya from Robert Yellin. This of course was quite some time ago and we still own that pot, this illustrated piece in the very same style has a few qualities that differentiate that pot from this one making this tsubo stand out a bit more than usual. Speaking in general terms, I have seen quite a few of these pots and though a number of his pieces are predominantly white with areas that have blushed to pink, this tsubo is as colorful a pieces as I have encountered with a thick skin of salt glaze that is wet and fat and a lot of blushed areas around the entire pot and the beautiful color of colors around the collar of the neck.   

Being one of the real champions of salt firing in the earlier days of post-war Japan, Iwabuchi is best known for these surfaces which include vividly combed wave patterns and mentori style tsubo that resemble old style Chinese lanterns but it is the crackled, cracking surfaces that truly stand out where a thick slip was applied on the pot that then contracts more than the clay body leading to a master class in texture and depth of surface. Seeing this pot made me a bit nostalgic for those early days of the internet and collecting but it really reminded me of the fact that every time you think you have seen what a potter or style is capable of a pot comes along that reminds you, just around the corner (or a mouse click away) there are lots more to see and hopefully even more to handle.