OLD TWO VIEW

Illustrated is a rather old two-view picture that has been on the hard-drive for quite some time, perhaps a decade or so and at one time belonged to a migratory collector who lived in the Mid-West before finding his true place in the world on the Left Coast these days. As you can see this is a wonderful "golden" Oni-Shino kinuta hanaire by Tsukigata Nahiko and despite its bold nature, posture and animated form it is filled with nuances and subtleties that make it abundantly clear this is no ordinary mallet vase. As for the form, the base was made round and then ever so slightly squared which is much more apparent in person and the shoulder area depressed just a bit where the stocky neck was affixed to stand upright while the form itself appears a bit off center and looking a bit like the Tower of Pisa. The pot was dipped, several times, the first coat being thin and the top coat quite a bit thicker making for this heavily textured and luxuriously fat surface. Once glazed the pot was fired and the neck and some of the body has a crusty ash addition to help narrate the visual landscape of the pot while the rest of the piece is covered in a thin coat of natural ash where it has created eroded rivers as it melted and cascades down the form adding to the vertical impression of the kinuta. Having handled this pot I can attest to the fact that it is infinitely better in person being both bold and subtle at the same time and having a landscape that moves as the pot does and is best described as a quintessential, classic vase by the master of the style, Tsukigata Nahiko. 

(Photos courtesy of a Mid-West, Left-Coast collector)