A BIT OF EVERYTHING

I am sure that I am repetitive in my use of descriptions for a great number of wood fired pots but despite that fact, I think I choose my words somewhat carefully and with an eye on what I am actually thinking and not some device easily put to use. What gets me there is this katakuchi style mizusashi, truly this has that medieval, old presence, like it was plucked out of the kitchen and pressed into service by some tea master of old including the manufacturing of a custom lid to complete the package. The surface both inside and out is just a wonderful array of effects, a bit of everything as it were, on this well fired pot, crafted by the hands Sugimoto Sadamitsu and fired under his watchful eye and decades of experience to make such a simple, humble and captivating vessel.     

Timeless, another descriptor I use well too often is perhaps among the best ways to characterize this mizusashi as it is seemingly not bound in the past or the present, it somehow is on its very own parallel timeline. The foot is flat and covered in ash while the front and back present somewhat differing landscapes where the one side is covered in streaking, cascading ash and the other is a blend of runny ash and rich red hi-iron color fumed during the firing. However, it is the interior that holds the biggest surprise, once the custom lacquer lid is removed, the interior is a series of waterfalls that culminate in a large, pure emerald green pool that is a bit like encountering a pot at the end of the proverbial rainbow. Timeless, wabi-sabi, medieval, classic; in the end it doesn’t matter how it is described, this Shigaraki mizusashi has quite the landscape and just sings instead of speaking.