HOSOGUCHI HANAIRE

I can't honestly say I know quite where this form comes from, perhaps the kinuta mallet, a musical instrument, a boat anchor, I just don't know. What I do know is that Hagi veteran Yamato Yasuo has made a large number of these forms going back to the 1970s and continuing to the present day. The box this vase comes in has the following description on the lid; KOHIKI SAI HOSOGUCHI HANAIRE or colored kohiki, narrow mouthed vase and is as good a description as I could imagine. The round, globe-like body is further decorated in large iron red squares a design that he uses on nearly all of his forms and the long neck has a soft and lustrous appearance due to the way the piece was glazed. Though this vase looks a bit fragile and even precarious, the weight of the base makes this function perfectly for its intended use, balancing a single blossom of small branch without flinching from its duty.