MEMORABLE INTRODUCTION

I have to admit, before I encountered this Oribe vase, I had never heard of Sone Yoshiyuki which considering my interest in Oribe has been something of a conundrum. As you can see, this animated vase has a rather fantastical surface created after the pot was glazed and fired on its side, the surface has run in streaking layers toward the bottom as the pot lay creating a landscape that both reminds me of rock strata and a foreign landscape from a distant gas giant beyond our reach. The glaze has run toward the prominet and distinct shell scars which fossilized during the firing adding more details that bring the viewer in to survey the varying elements that create the whole. Either lug has a rather distinct bidoro drop, suspended as if gravity does not apply and the entire pot is streams of mingling iron and copper almost mimicing neriage until you look deep into the surface of the glaze to see the thrown bones of the hanaire.   

As for the form itself, this vase is a creative amalgam of the old and the new, borrowing some elements of old pottery while striving to show a modern rendition of classicism and an inner voice imbued with the playful* whimsy Oribe sprung from. The form has a casual quality to it while its posture is both determined and study showing off the simple alterations to the thrown piece that seem natural and in harmony with the finished object.  I have written about Sone Yoshiyuki previously showing off a magnificent bidoro emerald earring suspended from a vases's lug showing off the details that pull a viewer into the orbit of his pottery as well as making for a rather unique first impression and acting as a most welcome and memorable introduction. 

(*PLAYFULNESS IN JAPANESE ART by Tsuji Nobuo)