SNOW COVERED DARUMA

Illustrated is a small Hagi kakeire hanging vase by the late Udagawa Hosei that I mentioned in another blog post (5/27/2020) regarding an exhibition that we had seen in Kyoto. Though there was quite a few remarkable masterworks at the show by Hara Kiyoshi, Araki Mikijiro, Shimizu U'ichi and others, after several other purchases and the out of reach prices of those pots, we ended up selecting this great little Hagi hanging vase for the simple fact that despite its size and affordable price, it had called to us as we moved between the two floors of the exhibit a number of time.       

Thrown out of a sandy, coarse clay, the form and movement of the piece was just so appealing and to a certain degree amusing looking a bit like a drunken Daruma settled in for a quick and spontaneous nap now covered in a coating of overnight snow. The surface of this casually deformed vase has what appears to be a melting, snow white surface with hints of black breaking through the surface from underneath the glaze with areas of pinks, lavenders and grey all punctuated by fine spots of crystalized titanium (or some other whitening agent) adding to the complex atmosphere of the piece. While admittedly it would not have hurt my (our) feelings to come home from a Japan trip with the large Araki or Hara Kiyoshi pieces but the Udagawa fit neatly in our carry-on and we would have regretted leaving it on the wall between the first and second floors of the exhibit hall where it first caught our attention and at the moment a small amount of snow might be quite welcomed.