SEKKI

Classic, even textbook sekki vase form by 20th century stand out and non-traditionalist, Yasuhara Kimei (1906-1980). Thrown out of a dense porcelain clay Yasuhara added a distinct blackish stone like surface in which all of his disticnt pottery marks are washed over, filled in mishima style with a rather bright white to accentuate and animate the designs and overall surface. The form is distincly that of Yasuhara right down to the wiggly (?) added lug, handle on the side of the elongated neck and in truth, as soon as you get a glimpse of this pot it is rather clear who made it. 

Yasuhara Kimei was born in Tokyo and joined the Totokai, studying under Itaya Hazan which would point to his wide range of glazing and surface technology ranging from ash glazed pots to his original sekki and many others he pioneered and used along his time in clay. As you can see the body is covered in three bands of casually depicted triangles filled with a cross hatched design and inlaid scratching to fill in some of the negative space about the pot creating a surface that is alive with movement and intrigue from the base to the lip. There has been alot written about Yasuhara over the years but it is not until you see the pieces in person where the emotion, playfulness and lyrical design all come together with concept and form to create an object not static but so animated it is best to keep them away from a shelf's edge.