LAST

Illustrated is what ended up being the last piece I received for 2023, a rather spontaneous purchase of a potter whose work I am rather attracted to and a piece just filled with character. The guinomi is a kaeda haiyu (maple ash glaze)guinomi showing off its wide, open form with splendid effects created by a bit of heat and the creativity ash specialist, Kimura Morinobu. The innermost interior and the area where the glaze terminates into a precarious roll at the foot have both turned to glass while the rest of the surface runs from an iron rim to olive green where steaks, tendils of glaze run into the interior feeding the glassy pool. Where the glaze ends, the rich, wood fired clay has a dark, brooding quality equipped with a crisp, quickly cut foot with a small spiral in the interior. The glaze, kaeda (haiyu) is made from maple tree ash, I am not sure if it is from the leaves or the tree itself, as he does both but this would appear to be a rather singular glaze to the potter which I have never encountered before and admittedly was partly responsible for my semi-impulsive purchase and I have to say, I would love to find a chawan utilizing the same surface but if it must, this guinomi makes for a pretty good stand-in.