ATYPICAL

Though perhaps not your typical, everyday Hagi surface, rest assured this is a classic hanaire thrown from daido clay somewhere in Yamaguchi Prefecture and made by the late Notomi Choun (1921-1995). This simple form was thrown out of a sandy, coarse clay with an eye toward function and purpose before being glazed and wood fired to produce this somber Yohen-Hagi style surface creating a rather intriguing, even captivating appearance of movement and visual variation. The main body of the atypical vase is a blend of active glaze moving down the vertical form with fire red areas of exposed clay capped off by a pronounced shoulder and mouth which gives way to a thick ring of blushed Hagi glaze ringing the lip. Breaking the vase up ever so slightly, Notomi has added two spontaneously attached lugs or ears to eith side of the base of the pot which is just enough to keep the form from becoming common in the presentation of the form. Despite every attempt to create a simple vase with a simple surface, the potter, glaze and firing have unitied to make a piece that stands out and awaits its completion through use, just the way it was intended to.