MODERNIST ART POTTERY

Despite having a somewhat decent memory I can't say I remember all the details of how I ended up with this mysterious vase other than it was described as "modernist art pottery" and in the end no one bid against me on the rather ubiquitous auction site. I have to admit I was drawn to the simplicity and utility of the form, the dry, modernist surface and decoration and the sensibility it presented which reminded me of the Arts & Crafts movement ushered in by Ruskin and Morris. The pot arrived be it vase or large lager glass and I wasn't disappointed by any of the attributes that drew me in to begin with and the decoration worked well around the form creating an rather animated landscape. 

Once in hand I was able to read the seal which was actually in English, MOMO in capital letters and after a brief internet seach I happened upon the website of Momoda Hikaru who lives and works in Asaka, Saitama. Momoda's website shows a wide array of pottery, mostly using less traditional surfaces and very little actual glaze excepting as liners for the interiors of pots. Having a rather busy record of exhibitions, Momoda also won the prestigous Shoji Hamada Prize at the 7th Annual Mashiko Ceramics Exhibition. Though without a box and a somewhat mysterious origins, this pot has been sitting up on a bookshelf where I get to look at it nearly everyday and not a day passes when I don't think to myself, that would surely hold a fair measure of a good bourbon beer! If interested, here is the Insta-page of Momoda Hikaru;

  

https://www.instagram.com/hikarumomoda/?hl=en