JUST A LID (Or the Fine Art of lid making)

It is likely no secret that I really enjoy pots with lids, big and small, glazed and wood fired, they all find a way to draw me in. Perhaps the main attraction is the sense of mystery and all the implied volume of the forms where each reveal is a bit like a new discovery and seeing a thing for the very first time with some being subtle and others being quite dramatic. In this realm the mizusashi as a form and essential element of the tea ceremony "reigns supreme"* for me and though I understand the function and purpose, exploring the interior must be a lot like what spelunkers experience with a new cave. There can be a vastness to the interior or tight, constricted volume, each one having something very different to offer, each something very new and with some, an interior that never disappoints of grows old in the lifting of the lid.       

To this end, there is the lid which I would guess is easy enough to overlook but like the body of the pot, the lid has as much to offer and in the right circumstance either whispers or screams to the viewer, lift me and explore my contents. To that end of looking at lids, I choose this Iga lid from a mizusashi by Kojima Kenji which is large, robust and quite sturdy preforming its function admirably while presenting itself as a self-contained object, an adjunct to the overall pot though in this case as essential as the body. Over the years I have seen a good number of mizusashi by Kojima Kenji in person and quite a few in catalogues and I have noticed that in more modern times no matter how disperate in form there is one overwhelmingly consistent feature and that is of the lid. A bit like circular valleys around the lid, the lids are defined by a number of distinct rings which in turn serve to collect and pool ash with the central knob looking a bit like a large, pinched adzuki bean which is up to the task at hand.      

Despite this arrived at formulaic approach to lid making, I have not yet encountered a Kojima Kenji mizusashi where the body and lid did not visually go hand in hand as each one is tweeked just enough to "fit" the actual and aesthetic needs of the piece. There is a casual and spontaneous feel to the lid as you can see in the photo where the firing has softened the marks and rings created by the potter and the knob almost has the feeling of a stone in a garden, made wet by the mist or rain who's placement was meant as much for use as contemplation. Though to some it is just a lid, each one is individual in its throwing and perhaps formulaic in its birth but sometimes if it works and works well, don't mess with it and leave things well enough alone from pot to pot. 

(*Yet another IRON CHEF JAPAN reference.)