SPIRIT OF ECHIZEN

Though I repeatedly tell myself I am not a collector of guinomi and tokkuri it seems like fate that I should end up with yet another of either of tse forms. Case in point and likel (?) our last pot for 2024 is this Echizen hekishayu tokkuri by Nishiura Takashi. Thrown out of local clay, the full, fat little form is light in weight which defies and stands up to the harsh firing process necessary to create the blue sand surface, frozen in time. With every turn of this pot it presents a landscape full of engaging details that not only please the eye but have a tactile warmth that makes it hard to put down. Perhaps the most intriguing detail is the area where the applied glaze transitions to the natually wood fired effects, creating a three dimensional boundary that circumnavigates the piece. Almost every encounter with Nishiura's array of forms, styles and surfaces leaves me quite satisfied though at the same time creates a quest to see yet another piece to compare and contrast the pots to best understand his lifetime of dedicated pottery making and the very spirit of Echizen in each and every one.