PRIMO REPARIO

Illustrated is the first piece of pottery that I have ever collected with a kintsugi repair, I have a real aversion to pots with chips, cracks or any damage and this has lead to a rather long term internal debate. Over the years I have had more than several pieces arrive damaged and in need of repair but I have found that a horse of a different color and I think because the piece arrived damaged, the trama or experience colored my perspective of those pots ever so slightly. Last year I spotted what I would under normal circumstances consider to be a near perfect Iga chawan by Furutani Michio, the caveat was a pewter lacquer repair measuring just under 2cm long. Based on the topography of the lip under magnification it seems obvious that something stuck to the lip during the firing process and was removed and the bowl was repaired at that time. I should mention that if done by or for the potter, this would be the third piece I have seen with repairs, the two others, one with staples and one with lacquer are illustrated in exhibition catalogues so one can guarentee contemporaneous repairs orchestrated or conducted by the potter, this one is most likely the same but conjecture.       

At any rate, this Iga chawan was thrown out of a rather dense whitish stoneware in a rather classical Furutani Michio shape where the bowl form has a depressed area running close to the lip which has also allowed green ash to build up in and run down from. The entire chawan is covered in varying degrees of ash thickness with a wonderful run of a thick river up toward the lip culminating in a large bidoro drop and due to how the bowl was oriented during the firing there is a thick deep pool close to the lip on the interior which is quite prominent and very hard to miss. The foot has the least amount of ash buildup of the bowl and shows off the crisp cut foot with crinkled texture inside to its fullest advantage. I could go on and on about the chawan and what I discovered in deciding to take a risk on this chawan is that it has no impact on the pot from my viewpoint, someone, either potter, dealer or collector decided this chawan was just too special to discard and had it lovingly restored with the perfect choice of lacquer which has altered this piece into not only splendid work of a master at the height of his skills when made but a narration about survival and the need to understand that a kiln accident is not the end of the world but rather the beginning of a deeper conversation about the importance of objects to a tradition and humanity, the perfection of imperfection on full display.