M3 III

Illustrated is another entry partially created by AI of a rather classical Sansai  (sancai) style mizusashi by Kato Kiyokazu (Kato Seizan II). The first pot I ever saw by this potter was a similar squared mizusashi with a sansai surface articulated with incised potters’ marks and punctuated by added device around the form. Based or influenced on some Chinese archetype or another this pot has a profound sense of form and volume just waiting to be explored with the simple removal of the lid. The well-conceived balance between form, marks and the flowing rich surface all point to an object that would easily be at home in a museum case showing off movement toward a distinctly Japanese aesthetic while not quite abandoning its Chinese roots.     

The truth is that many modern Japanese traditions and movements rely on their Chinese or Korean origins and this Sansai mizusashi is no exception. Beyond the tri-colored pottery, Kato works with hakuji, temmoku and ransai where his meticulous throwing and craftsmanship can not escape scrutiny of the viewer and where near perfection is called for. I chose this “sansai hana-mizusashi” as a classical and highest quality object by Kato Kiyokazu to reside in my Museum mentis meae where the nobility, tradition, history and aesthetics all come together in a clear vision where the viewer may leave the object behind by the conversation is likely far from over.  

“I want to establish a form of aesthetic beauty that blends a soft gentle atmosphere with a sharp, focused sense of tension.”  Kato Kiyokazu

(*This picture contains an actual image of a pot or pots in an AI generated background or scenario)

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

It is kind of an odd idea to be making snowberry designs as it is beginning to look like spring has sprung, even in central New York. Illustrated is a larger bisque terra cotta pasta bowl complete with black and white slip and sgraffito design, the basis of snowberry(s). The form and design are pretty straight forward, even simple if the throwing of terra cotta isn’t easy to define that way. After all these years, I am usually okay with the results but there has never been a more textbook definition of love/ hate than my relationship with the red menace, terra cotta. I probably have Dick and Patty to thank for that!  

IDEAL

I’ll start out by saying this is neither my photo or my pot, rather this Okabe Mineo oribe chawan was exhibited in the traveling exhibition, JAPANESE CERAMICS TODAY (1983), ceramics from the Madame Kikuchi collection. I have handled over a half dozen chawan by Okabe Mineo and seen ten times that many in illustrations but this chawan has stood as my ideal of 20^th century Oribe all these years. The simplicity and directness of the form, the throwing marks and spatula work all articulate this chawan under its evocative green surface where time is suspended and the old and the new are to my eye, undistinguishable. I was fortunate to see this chawan in person and since that encounter there are times when I wish I had not as it is precisely this chawan and the LIVING NATIONAL TREASURES OF JAPAN exhibition that flipped a switch and set me on this inescapable path of modern Japanese ceramics. Sorry for these poor photos but I think everyone interested in Japanese pottery needs to see this at least once in a lifetime. 

 

I almost forgot to mention, I was completely sold at the kodai!

 

NUDGE

Brilliantly animated beaked pouring vessel by Minnesota potter, Jeff Oestreich. The pot is composed of rather simple pieces-parts to create a wonderfully conversant functional pot that is so much more than that. The elements of the pot work well with the wax resisted decoration and glaze all finalized as a result of a soda firing all the way back in the early 1990s. Having had the opportunity to study with and act as a studio assistant back at Haystack, watching Jeff work, his concentration, meticulous technique and ability to nudge the clay into unique and compelling forms was quite a treat with this pot being quite the little treasure. Having had and cared for this pot for almost three decades, on numerous occasions it was pressed into service and works like a champ where in its use, once washed again and set away to dry, the piece glistens in its momentary wetness adding yet another pleasurable feature to its arsenal of appeal. By sheer fortune, years after acquiring this pot, a mate came along, almost the same exact shape and size but with a differing decoration but that will have to wait for another day. In this case one is enough but where one is good, two is surely better.

SOME MOVEMENT (FROM THE PAST)

In trying to sort out a ton of files and videos, I happened across this video of an older mentori and stamped Oribe style teabowl that I made in 2023 (?). I thought this was a rather simple bowl; simple form, simple and direct faceting, periodic stamp placement and the bare minimum for my Oribe glaze, only two glazes instead of five. I think the video conveys some of the volume and some movement (from the past). 

SHIMMERING GEOMETRY

Illustrated is a well thrown yuri-hakkin-sai hanaire with very pleasant proportions and measuring just about a shaku in height. Made by Furukawa Toshio most likely in the late 1980s or early 1990, this glaze and the geometric patterning is typical of his work where he cut shapes from platinum foil and then using sgraffito he animated the surface. In this particular case, Furukawa relied on a much more geometric design, less organic than some of his pieces where thin columns of foil give way to large rectangular devices where the form reaches its fullest volume. The vase is further divided into six distinct segments into which the repeating patterns are applied and carried out creating distinct fields of shimmering geometry.       

Expanding on his seiji and seihakuji techniques, Furukawa Toshio created quite a few of this yuri-hakkin-sai style work, many of which ended up being featured in national exhibitions across Japan. Like with his celadon works, Furukawa used this glaze/ foil technique on a wide array of forms and sizes ranging from guinomi and koro all the way up to large tsubo and rather expansive hachi. This vase is just one of a myriad of pieces that harken back to the works of Ono hakuko, Kato Hajime and the older Chinese wares from which this technique sprung but it is a fitting addition to an idea and ideal that has become almost synonymous with Japanese potters of the Showa through Heisei eras and now beyond.          

On a personal note, given the chance, seeing Furukawa’s yuri-hakkin-sai work in the sunlight is in my opinion the very best way to look the view away in one’s memory.

ROTATION

I realize that I put up a post on this chawan quite some while back but this was up for rotation and I decided to have a bit of photographic fun with it before just letting it hit the shelf and start to collect dust. The previous post, entitled, HIER EN DAR revolved around how differently a pot looks between varying photos and light sources, one being taken in situ and the other coming from an exhibition catalogue. Though a new post, you can see that I did decide to stay on topic, referencing photography as I decided to pull out a number of Hollywood style backdrops for this bowl since the past couple of days have been quite dreary, downtown days*.      

Illustrated is another photo of a rather dramatic and bold Iga chawan by Kishimoto Kennin. Using a photo of a half-moon that I took a long while back, I created this image without the aid of any photo manipulation or AI, just old fashion 1950s technicolor technology. I choose this moon image because as with most wood fired chawan, the front and back usually have different landscapes, in this case, the from is juicy and wet and the back is drier ash and hi-iro but the textures of both images seemed to work well to my eye at least. Having the chawan in hand, I also find it quite interesting how it affects my mood more so as the sun goes down allowing the bowl to “dance by the light of the moon”, balancing skillfully, exuberance and a sense of impermanence. It may sound overly sentimental but I am struck by the solemnity and moodiness of this chawan; was it intentional, baked in or is it just me?

(* A B-52s reference and homage to Quiche Lorraine)

RELUCTANT II

So, this is where the “magic” happens or at least begins and I think it is pretty clear from this photo what meticulous planning, measuring and precision goes into my hand-built pieces. This photo is of slabs for an order, a simple 16” or so tall vase, carved and to be glazed in my saffron glaze provided it survives my brutal and speedy process for construction devoid of any patience and less tolerance for perfect lines and exact dimensions. Rolled out of stoneware clay, the pieces are clearly marked for what is the interior of each side, so I bevel the right edges, the top and bottom and the solitary slab used to construct the neck/ mouth making this project entirely built out of slabs. Normally many of my hand-built pieces are a marriage of slabs with some hand-thrown addition for the neck and mouth but in this case the body and neck are to echo each other in form so throwing was out. 

These slabs are all quite wet and once a bit drier, the forms will be addressed closer to how they should look and the edges, the sides will have a bevel created and then scored for better assembly. I think I have repeatedly made it clear I am not much of a hand-builder, always reluctant to move in that directions but there are always those times when what I see in my head and want in three dimensions defies throwing, no matter how much you rely on the concept of T&A (thrown and altered) and that is exactly what is staring me in the face this time around.

EGGPLANT, REALLY?

 

Illustrated is another chawan by Kimura Morinobu and like most of his glazes, the base of this surface revolves around ash. What makes this perhaps a bit less like other ash glazes by Morinobu, apparently (?) this surface is based on eggplant ash, eggplant (なすび), really? The hakogaki reads, Nasubi-yu, eggplant glaze and I have seen about a dozen of his pots in this glaze surface ranging from guinomi, hanaire and of course several chawan. Though very simple and direct, this chawan has a wonderful fullness to the form, broad and full of volume coupled with this evocative surface that just reminds me of the Kyoto aesthetic where there is a mixture of nature and nobility written into the bowl. The serene landscape is interrupted by the iron peaking out of the lip and from the marks on the bowl meant to break up the continuity of the piece.       

As a bonus, this nasubi glazed chawan is also exhibited in a Mitsukoshi show from Heisei 14 (2002) and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue. Photo can be seen as an inset at the far right-hand corner. It is always interesting to see and handle illustrated pots as in general it makes me think that the piece is either above average or quintessentially classic in its presentation. Either way, this quiet nasubi-yu chawan is yet another pleasant encounter with Kimura Morinobu where I look forward to the next meeting with pottery that continues to define the simple and complex.

M3 #2

It will likely come as no surprise that I have chosen a pot by Tsukigata Nahiko as my second entry into my museum mentis meae and hopefully my explanation will excuse my personal bias toward the potter. The placement of this mizusashi in an uncluttered, display case gives a visual depth to the pot which as with many pictures, pots can suffer from their intentional austerity or their clutter of every day displays. This simple form was classically employed by Tsukigata Nahiko over the breath of his career, examples date back to the late 1960s and early 70s and run at least until 2001, the last “datable” mizusashi I have encountered of this shape. In defense of my choice, I should also mention that there are two mizusashi that are similar in style to this piece at the Tsukigata Daitobu Museum, one with a ceramic lid and one with a lacquer lid. This particular piece belonged to an advanced collector who shared my interest in the potter where it commingled with a wide array of pottery by mostly Ningen Kokuho and certainly, in my opinion held its own.         

Depicted in my mind’s museum with the help of AI*, this mizusashi is a classic representation and even near perfection of but one of the many specific types of Oni-Shino, the surface is clear, active and even luminescent with areas of ash built up around the entire form and appearing like a tamadare style waterfall cascade at the very front of the form. Among this avenue of Oni-Shino, there is a singularity of nobility present in this pot which Tsukigata choose to name, “Snowy Egret”. With the name, it clearly echoes the regal and naturalistic qualities and there are few better examples where form, surface, firing and concept all have pulled together through experience and serendipity to create a museum level work. As you look beyond the depth of this complex surface, the bones of the pot are pure functional simplicity, cloaked in a lyrical and contemplative visual narration of fire and a coalesced landscape present a near perfect object for the ritual of tea ceremony. In the end, I choose this mizusashi for my museum because of its sustained nobility and its classic character and characteristics of Tsukigata Nahiko, qualities the best pots exude and many pots and potters should aspire to.

“To appreciate the noble is a gain which can never be torn from us.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(*This picture contains an actual image of a pot or pots in an AI generated background or scenario)

WBW

So, here is an oldie for a way back Wednesday post. I can’t actually say I remember when this fully functional teapot was made but I was going through this phase of myths and mythology imagery around 92/93. I can also say that this hunting centaur teapot was more than likely made for a show but there in ends the details of when though I can say it was made in University Heights (Cleveland). As for specifics, this was slab-built terra cotta and slips under a thin clear glaze using the abstract background and silhouettes inspired by ancient Greek pottery as well as the myths of Greece and ancient Rome. If memory serves me, these teapots were mostly large, perhaps close to 15” long, 13” tall and about 3.5” in width. This time period is also when I stated notching out the handle for a thumb rest which usually coincides with the sweeping curves of the knob of the lid, I liked that confluence of movement. At any rate, this myth teapot was from way back when my hand building was in its very nascent stages so judge accordingly though I should probably say, I am not sure it has really progressed much further along after all these years except perhaps in my mind.

COMPLETE

As odd as it may sound, especially considering I would never use a chawan I have collected, I can’t look at a pot without thinking of Rosanjin’s concept that a pot is complete only while being used or in use. To that end and complete with my small inventory of faux flowers, here is an Iga vase complete through its colorful red and white arrangement adding a sense of fait accompli. This rather sturdy, squared up Iga vase was made and fired by Kojima Kenji with some of his tell-tail characteristics including his addition of quirky lugs or ears and a fired surface that at least to my eye is just a bit unlike that of any other working potter. The form is all purpose with some perfect additions of the potter’s marks and a rolled up or over foot that gives a visual and actual sense of stability needed to off set the weight of flowers or a branch, cantilevered off to the side. Though I find Kojima’s pots thoughtful and an excellent blend of form, function and aesthetics, I must admit, this pot with or without flowers real or imagined, is about as complete as they come.

E&G

Illustrated is what at first glance could be confused with the somewhat ubiquitous Toruko-ao guinomi under a full moon by Kato Kenji but in this instance, this is a less frequently encountered chawan. Over the years I have seen quite a number of vase and varying guinomi forms but this is only the second chawan that I have personally had the pleasure to handle. This particular chawan is a natsu-wan, a summer chawan in Kato’s transparent soda blue style with vivid, black decoration creating alternating panels around the bowls interior and simple banding around the lip and exterior of the bowl. The glaze stops abruptly short of the kodai showcasing the natural coloration of the reddish clay which stands in a stark contrast to the blue though very complimentary. On a rather personal note, I am rarely surprised by scale and volume but despite measuring just shy of 14cm, this both has a compact and almost fragile appearance. The low bowl does not contain “heaps” of volume but has an elegant and graceful sensibility, quite diametrically opposed to your average Kumano chawan, I must say. In the end, the proportions of this bowl are just classic in nature, without the context, could it be a chawan or a guinomi, either way it works quite well. 

RETRO SET

I’ll start out by saying I am not sure why this photographed this color as in person it is a richer, more vibrant soda blue like all the other pieces I posted. At any rate, this was a shadow set of a retro tea set that I made a while back in which I made two of each piece and this was what was left over. The general concept was a soda blue set based on a retro feel using the bamboo form for the water jar, teabowl and tea jar. The combed surface and the ridges make for excellent glaze collection areas creating a distinct look across the set and the small tea jar was finished off with a white lid to simulate the ivory of original Japanese chaire. In discussing this set, the original idea was for the tea jar to fit in the teabowl and the teabowl to fit in the water jar but the scale got a little out of hand so this was what was decided on in the end. I have to admit, I like the general concept of the pieces nesting into one another and may try that one of these days but the proportions of these three pieces fit the needs of the owner and as is, theywork well together and that is as good as it gets.

JUST A BOX

Well, to be honest, today was quite the day and not in a good way. The sun has given way to night and tomorrow will be another day which is bound to be a bit better. I basically ran out of time and thought posting this large, classic covered box by Kawai Takeichi would make for a simple and interesting post, I hope you agree.

M3

I have been thinking about posting periodically on my blog, a feature that in some respects I would consider a museum display conjured from my own mind, pots curated for their significance for this museum mentis meae (M3). Before you think I have gone completely daffy, what I have become curious about is of the pots that I handle and have pictures sent to me, which ones would actually be museum worthy and to what level, a large national venue or a smaller, more regional location, certainly a fair number qualify for gallery shows of a particular potter or as a link within a retrospective show irrespective of the venue. Together with this odd idea, rather than be totally left in the dust regarding AI, I can now in some small measure put this idea to the test, creating AI generated images using actual photos that I have access to, the bulk of which I have taken myself. I have debated for some time doing this, fearing it seems either naïve or even childish but since these social media posts are really more for me than the audience, I concluded, why not, post a few and see where that goes and where it may lead.          

For my first entry*, here is a wonderful ash and Shino tokkuri by Kowari Tetsuya. This piece belongs to a European collector but I decided to use this picture because of Kowari’s work, this form and surface are simply stellar and classic, indicative to a time-period from the mid-2010s to present. The articulated form, Kowari’s rather idiosyncratic construction of the tokkuri, speak to the very highest level of his work and when placed in this AI museum environment, the piece simply looks at home. To my eye, there are no real questions as to it belonging on display, it represents the top level of the work as I would judge a pot; concept, form, surface and gesture/posture. Once those hurdles are met, to my mind, it is clear that the pot differs significantly than a great majority of extant work and earns its place among the upper percentages of a body of work. Is this all just some exhaustive exercise and am I in any position to make any of these determinations? Maybe you would disagree but in my mind museum, this Kowari Tetsuya is perpetually on display and this isolated and uncluttered photo is exactly how I see it whenever I care to bring it to mind.    

(*This picture contains an actual image of a pot or pots in an AI generated background or scenario)

SOME LEVEL

I keep working on my saffron, iron yellow glaze, trying to get some level of consistency and dependability from it. This is one of those yunomi tests, thick kushime combed slip with the iron yellow glaze over. On this particular test, one of a half dozen, the glaze was used a bit thinner than normal and this was the results, it had still run mostly off the upper half and collected around the apron of the piece, running diagonally and building up. I think at the end of all this, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and success at some level, these results will just tell me, this surface is going to be whatever it wants, work however it wants and as long as it stays on the pot, who am I to argue. 

RECENT ARRIVAL

I first saw this salt fired henko quite some while ago on Facebook and after discussing it with a fellow collector across the pond, I decided it should be rehomed at its earliest convenience. I was initially struck by the sheer simplicity of the form and surface, it would seem to be devoid of any superfluous detail or additions relying on a strong form, a few lines of slip and cobalt and a fine sheen of salt to breathe life and movement into its clay. This was made by Susukida Koji (1945-2015) and fits well within his body of slipped work and salt fired pottery. As you can see in this sunlit picture, the salt has created a soft, pebbly texture over the applied decoration which reminds me of lyrical, even poetic calligraphy. In fact, I have begun referring to this bottle as the ‘getsu-henko”, the moon vase as the way the decoration appears on each side reminds me of the kanji for moon, getsu/ tsuki and though I am sure others will see what they will on this scroll (kakejiku) like planes, I see a casual mastery of calligraphy spelled out in liquid clay and cobalt brushwork.

PINE BARK & RAIN

Illustrated is a rather well fired Shigaraki chawan by Minagawa Takashi, son of Kiyotaka and pupil of Komori Shoan. The bowl is broad and the lift makes it appear a bit like it is floating just off the surface which adds a nice touch to the visual. The bowl was thrown and then a Matsukawa-hada style texture was impressed or beaten into the surface giving the bowl a lot of visual and actual texture that has an immediacy to it. This bowl wants to be held, fondled even to fill in any and all blanks you may have from the encounter which is typical of much of Minagawa Takashi’s work. As you can see, much of the bowls exterior has a perpetually wet sheen baked into the all-natural ash surface which in my book is a plus, the interior shows a dazzling pool of ash and lends itself quite enthusiastically to use. The lip may look a bit blunt, it is perfectly formed for use with tea or any other liquid you can impress into service and the foot makes for a simple, effective and ideal pedestal made for stability and another enjoyable feature while resting in the hand.     

This chawan was photographed a short while back while it seemed like there would never be any sunlight again. I took a number of the “Hollywood back drop” style photos of which this is one of them. It occurs to me that without some context, the background may be a bit iffy to figure out and so a degree of explanation is in order. During a torrential downpour during last spring, I opened the side window and decided to shoot the rain using the fastest shutter speed possible on my primitive and outdated camera and of the photos, this particular shot intrigued me the most and I decided to use it as a backdrop moving forward. It may seem a bit odd but I have noticed that it tends to make pots, chawan mostly look a bit like they are quite three dimensional so, not such a random photo after all, I hope you agree. 

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

This is another pot from a while back, a double lidded Oribe style slipware jar which makes lid throwing just a bit more complicated. Thrown out of stoneware, applied black and then white slip before combing the decoration. There isn’t anything too complicated here; simple covered jar, two lids but it is the combination of a few of my favorite things that makes it all the more interesting, Oribe and slipware. Over quite a few years of making pots, the bulk of my English slipware inspired pottery has been based on terra cotta clay but moving up in temperature to involve any number of my Oribe glazes together with another traditionally based style of work like combed or trailed slipware has been a real enjoyable adventure and honestly has probably prolonged my level of patience before I normally just go, well, enough of that!           

For what it’s worth, here is one of my favorite quotes as it applies here; “Enjoy the small things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”  Kurt Vonnegut

HARMONY

I know I use the term classic rather frequently but I think it certainly applies to this Kawai-mon covered box by Kawai Takeichi. Building off the Mingei movement, this molded covered box form has been thoughtfully designed for use with the top of the piece projecting out over the walls making it easy to use and pick up, a bit like a hidden, ergonomic handle. Made of a porous stoneware clay, the pot is covered in a white glaze that has a slightly pearl effect across the surface and is classically decorated using iron, cobalt and copper to articulate the top of the box and center of each side panel with just the right amount of design. This flower design was commonly used by Takeichi on plates, bowls, vases and boxes where less is more and strikes the perfect balance between the (Kyoto) aesthetic and utilitarian form. Though the Kawai school steps just outside the stricter guidance of the Mingei movement, it is clear that like his mentor, Kawai Takeichi took the maxim, “beauty born of use” quite literally in his need to secure function, form and decoration acting in harmony. 

THE PROCESS IS CONTINUOUS

 

Though slightly on the small size, every chance encounter with the Hishoku Nanban-yaki pottery of Sakauchi Ensen is an enjoyable encounter. This vase is based on a classic, old school wooden kinuta, mallet and the proportions of neck to base work well and are well suited for any impressed use from fan holder to traditional flower vase. Among Sakauchi’s fancifully painted landscapes, this particular piece, well the firing stands out as a bit more unusual as there is a significant array of rich, deep iron red on one side, with rivulets of color running down the base of the piece as well as around 60% of the flattish lip area at the very top, the remainder flanked in green. Though I don’t necessarily consider this effect rare, it is surely serendipity when it occurs. These variations add a visual punch to an already intriguing and unusual landscape painted from carefully chosen clay, varying woods and what must have been a less than simple firing schedule. If possible, I would love to hear the explanation of each milestone toward this surface and exactly how he got there, one firing heaped on top of another, as 3rd Force maintains, “the process is continuous”.

BASIC

I was trying to figure out the best way to describe this bowl and the word basic came to mind and though I don’t think of the term basic with any negative connotation, I realize some may. What I mean is that this bowl is pretty much built for use with some nods to aesthetics thrown in for good measure from the banding, stamping and the rich, green Oribe surface. I think that despite the stamping and banding, this is a simple bowl in form and execution finding its inspiration from the fundamentals I learned a long time ago now. In point of fact, this simple teabowl was intended as a companion for an Oribe waterjar, finished in similar stamping, banding and glaze and together I think they both are cut for simplicity with just enough bells and whistles to get by and let’s not forget that rich, deep green.

 

THE PAST

Illustrated is a low flat Hachi style Iga mizusashi flanked by and reflecting the moon in the background. Made by Konishi Heinai II and prominently marked with the Taiko-gama seal, this was potted a bit on the heavy side, slightly deformed while wet and had a series of rough gouged decoration articulated around the form. The interior of this mizusashi holds an intriguing surprise, there is a pearlescent glaze with drifting strokes of gold representing grasses which much look like some old Rimpa design when filled with water. Added to this one surprise, there is another detail that I find quite appealing, the base, the bottom of the pot has an impressed wood pattern design, likely from where the wet pot was placed becoming part of the overall antique sensibility tying the mizusashi to feudal pots of a different time. 

Konishi Heinai II who specialized in Raku and Iga pottery had quite the skill for filling his clay works with a sense of timeless where they appear far older than they are. Was he a potter born out of time or a potter determined to forward an aesthetic that time cannot and should not abandon at a time when modernity and art stylings seem to prevail? I am perpetually thankful that there are potters who see the past as an adventure to explore everyday moving forward.

FRAGRANCE

Keeping on the koro theme to end the week, here is a simple and very Chinese influenced Jun style koro by Kimura Morinobu. The form is classic, resting on a tripod configuration and puffing out to express the fullest volume possible in a pot you can hold in the palm of your hand. My suspicion is that the glaze was engineered out of some wood ash or another and visually, the koro has three distinct bands of coloration; the pale blue seiji at the base, the wildly textured purple at the top of the form completed by a rich, dark wood pierced and carved lid with a dramatic carnelian knob.      

What one can take away from Morinobu’s koro is the sense of purpose, where function is paramount and the intent visually is rooted in the allusion of fragrance where a small amount of clay, ash and fire build a bridge between the physical and emotional realms. I many respects, I would expect nothing less from Kimura Morinobu where potter and pottery look to Kyoto aesthetics, then skillfully infused this vocabulary into much of his work.

A butterfly poised
On a tender orchid,
How sweetly the incense
Burns on its wings      Matsuo Bashō

SPLASH AND DASH

In the sun sometimes makes a big difference in seeing the details of my Ao+ glazed pieces. In this case, a small khaotique slipped cap jar decorated in a splash and dash style though there is some rhyme and reason to it which may seem hard to believe. The black slip was applied rather quickly in a very spontaneous manner that I have repeated on pots for quite a long while, what is rather interesting is that at some points, where there is black slip under the gosu style surface, there is a neat, droozy quality that adds a bit of subtlety to the overall surface. From this firing way back in 2025, there were several of these smaller cap jars made to fit neatly between some vases that were ordered which made for a nice, full kiln. I need to remember to wait for the sun to come out, a rare occurrence these days to photograph this particular glaze surface as it brings out the effects and truer nature of the pieces than relying on a 200watt tungsten bulb, once again all natural is the best way to go!

HAGI NERIAGE

If memory serves me, the very first piece of Hagi neriage pottery I ever encountered was a faceted vase form by Yamato Yasuo. The vase was a variety of earthy tones covered in a semi-transparent ash glaze which created an insight into the geology of the throwing. This neriage koro was made by Yamato Tsutomu, son of Yasuo and as one would expect, it shows many of the same characteristics and overall sensibility. The neriage that surrounds this koro has an array of earthy tones and pattern like the side of a hill, cleaved open and covered in a wisp of mist circling the form adding a dimension to the pot that keeps the eye engaged before moving on and upward to the lid. Thrown and patterned in a similar fashion, the lid has a grouping of triangular piercing dedicated to the function of the pot, it is simple and direct and completes the package in part by echoing the pattern at the bottom of the three footed base. Though clearing maneuvering within his father’s footsteps, Yamato Tsutomu works within a tradition begun by the father and now passed on to son and future generations.

WHAT A PAIR III

Illustrated is a pair of Shigaraki, haikaburi chawan by Kohyama Yasuhisa framed with sunlight and shadow. While I have posted these separately previously, I had actually forgotten that this pair were like passing ships in the night, one mine and the other going to a far-off collector. At any rate, I felt these qualified for the “what a pair” commentary as there are many similarities and differences between them as if no two snowflakes are alike, the same can be said for some potters; their pots and how they work, especially where wood firing is involved. On the left, the form is both lower and wider with an array of distinct effects while the taller, more compact bowl on the right has that wangata sensibility dominated on the face by a deep, dark crust of ash built up due to the intensity of wood and flame. Forgotten photo, now surfaced and posted, showing not one but two chawan by a potter of favored status and everyone knows, the only thing better than one is of course, two.

ONE AND DONE?

Illustrated is a stoneware handbuilt bottle with thick impasto slip and my Oribe glaze surface. Like with other one and done pots, this came about by using up the cut away slab pieces from slabs used for hump molded tray forms. What I was left over with were these unique shapes which immediately made me think of this form. Once assembled I took a few minutes and threw a neck/ mouth to complete the form, dried it out a bit and attached it to the slab body hoping they were close enough in consistency. I “sacked” it (in a plastic bag) for a day and then applied the thick impasto slip and once out of the bisque, no losses, no cracks and the neck was still firmly attached. A quick bath in three different glazes and though it ran a small amount, overall not too bad for a one and done made out of scrap slabs of very specific shapes. I am not thinking this is something I am going to chase to the ends of the earth but it was a neat way to spend a half and hour and a couple less pounds of clay that would have had to have been reconstituted, in other words, a win-win.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Over the years I have seen and handled quite a few pots by Tsukigata Nahiko. In that time I have seen a wide array of descriptive terms used when signing the box where sometimes a pot is just, “Oni-Shino” and other times it is “Kujaku Oni-Shino” or any number of other descriptions. To this day, I am never quite sure where Tsukigata draws the line, well a fine line in how exactly he decides to describe a piece, telling you exactly what you are looking at, but what’s in a name after all?  

The pot that got me thinking about this again is this particular Shino, wood fired chawan, the box is clearly marked Ko-Shino while accompanying the pot is a personal letter by the potter in which he refers to the piece as Oni-Shino, together with this letter is also a placard (with corresponding number) from his exhibition where it is clearly written; Oni-Shino Chawan along with the original price. Pardon me if I am a bit confused but I think I would have originally gone with the box inscription first and foremost but the two “goes-withs” do leave me wondering, which is it and is the box or the letter the best way to describe the bowl? I think I will stick with the hako-gaki and assume when it was boxed, Ko-Shino was exactly what it was, end of story.

HERE & NOW

I have to admit; this particular pot really tests my memory. If memory serves me correctly, this pot was fired while I was at the studio of Kohyama Yasuhisa back in 1993 and the bio and box signature at least add some credence to that thought. Back in 1993, the use of 35mm slide and regular film did not afford one the option to takes hundreds and hundreds of photos so I was a bit careful about what I photographed and sketched but pots of this form and size tend to stand out in my memory and searching out old photos and images has proved fruitless to date.  

At any rate, here is a classic Shigaraki (haikaburi) mentori henko by Kohyama Yasuhisa circa 1993, the form is rather strong and simple yet it cuts a rather imposing figure sitting on a shelf or desktop. The form is ever so slightly articulated by the impressions, the marks created by the wire cutting process that has been accentuated during the firing. There are distinct “zones” of ash fall with the shoulder and mouth receiving the heaviest amount of buildup down to the base which shows evidence of sitting in a small amount of charcoal during the firing. Also as you can see in the photo, the mouth of the vase is large and well supported by the broad nature of the overall base, body of the piece. In reality, it doesn’t really matter when and where but rather that I had the chance to see and study the piece in the here and now.

WBW 1/21/2026

I kind of thought this Odyssey (Homer) inspired large ishime-ji wall bowl would be a perfect “way back Wednesday” post. I can’t remember exactly when this was made but likely around 2000 or so. The bowl is stoneware, maybe 20” across with incised decoration with inlaid white against the black-grey engobe. I started making these Homer influenced pieces back in the mid-90s after deciding to re-read THE ODYSSEY (and THE ILIAD) and they were great fun to make if not a bit tricky to inlay the white against the background, also a play on ancient Greek pottery. I am often reminded of the George Santayana's quote; "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”, maybe revisiting and remembering old work isn’t such a bad thing where repeating it brings new perspectives.

EARLY

Illustrated is a rather stoic, formal and early Shino vase by Tamaoki Yasuo. What’s that you ask, just how early is this kinuta hanaire? With fortune smiling, this boxed vase came with a small catalogue, all in B&W from an early exhibition at Kuroda Toen dated Showa 47 (1972) and while I am sure there are earlier pieces, this is the earliest, definitively dated piece that I have encountered. Like much of Tamaoki’s early work, this pot is sturdy, and as I mentioned very formal in presentation, the proportions are strong and overall relies on the deliberate nature of the glazing to add movement to the piece. There is a simple, Momoyama influenced landscape painted across the surface where areas of one layer of Shino moves over the rich red surface, creating brushstrokes of liquid movement. This pot is as good an example of Tamaoki’s work for the period and foreshadows what is to come where formality gives way to his more casual and liberated pieces, animated by form and surface learned over decades of a dedication to clay, glaze and firing where, “my work, which is in a state of searching and searching, will go on*”.

 (* Tamaoki Yasuo, 1992)

葛屋香合

I found this crunchy, barnacle encrusted little fellow hiding in plain sight, mixed among toy cars, old transistor radios and other bric-a-brac in the offerings of a general, second-hand dealer on the web. While that was interesting enough in the discovery, the fact of who, what, where and when was even more intriguing to me, obviously a Japanese Shigaraki kogo, made sometime prior to 1992 and by Kohyama Yasuhisa. For anyone who knows Kohyama’s work, the firing, well the surface is something of an anomaly considering his preference for quiet, restrained surface development but this little gem must have been somewhere where the fullest weight and ferocity of the firing came to bare as if laser focused on this diminutive and limited lump of clay formed into a traditional Japanese house complete with thatched roof (kuzuya-kogo, 葛屋香合).     

I should mention, sometimes when a piece like this comes along, I can’t help but be pleased as punch. First off, I love diminutive pieces, secondly, I couldn’t ask for a more intense surface and third it is by a potter who's work I truly admire and acquiring a piece just outside of the normal body of work rarely hurts my feelings. I am glad I made that one more click on the mouse to encounter this Kohyama Yasuhisa kogo, small or not, it has a large presence and an even longer impact with a surface that at least in my experience is not often encountered.

LESSONS IN PHOTOGRAPHY

I realize the title of this post is more than a bit misleading considering it should be more about this is what not to learn when taking photographs but admittedly, this (faux) gosu surface is a bear to get right. After waiting a week for some actual sunlight to help show the surface of this teabowl, I decided to wing it with my single 200watt tungsten bulb and hope for the best. To fill in some of the gaps, the bowl was made of porcelain and then had a thin white slip coarsely brushed over the main part of the bowl before having black slip trailed and finger-printed over the piece ala khaotique style. The glaze is my Ao+ which was developed to in many respects a faux gosu after the Kawai-mon staple. 

This particular teabowl ended up a bit hotter in temperature than usual which has created a nice effect where it has pulled down the intensity of the color around the mouth and created wonderful, rich drips around the base of the bowl which you can just see in this photo. As for the lessons in photography, perhaps I’ll get this figured out some day with multiple lights, reflecting umbrellas and whatever equipment I would need but for now the hold the floodlight and point and shot method will just have to suffice, I need to get a handle on this pottery thing before I move on to another pursuit.

WHEAT/ CHAFF

There is something that is just pure magic where Hirosaki Hiroya has based much of his work on Sung Dynasty hakuji, pure white porcelain where the simple, abstracted repoussé style floral design just sings across the surface. This particular vase has a few additional features that add to the overall presence of the vase form from the pieced foot ring to the double stepped mouth, both adding to the pot rather than distracting from its purity. Though much of Hirosaki’s work is quite simple in concept and execution, the skillful use of a strong, resonant form and design that is distilled to the least amount of detail is honestly about as complex as it gets. How does a potter create a pot that is aware of its every detail while having removed all the superfluous elements while maintaining a strong and long-term conversation with the viewer? I wish I could answer that question but this ability is what separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak and it is obvious that Hirosaki Hiroya knew exactly how to solve that conundrum.

MAGIC

Classic Nanban-oke style mizusashi with a twist, the pot surface is a yohen style glaze that shimmers and adds depth and volume to the form. Perhaps the real treat is when you remove the lacquer lid and peer into the reflective and mesmerizing interior, the water just adding to the atmosphere and mystery of the contents. This mizusashi was made by Fukumori Aya, wife of the yuteki and yohen specialist Fukumoro Morihiko, using a glaze he created and made use of to great effect over the years. Though I have seen several yuteki and yohen pieces by Fukumoro Aya, I think it is safe to say she is far better known for her painted, almost Kyoto style ceramics though having seen this mizusashi and a yuteki style chaire, I think it is quite safe to say, where ever she turns her attention, magic is likely to happen.

“EVER TRIED”

I won’t say this is a particularly exciting picture but it is what I am currently up to. Considering the time of year, the studio is a bit chilly and in the mid-50s and there aren’t a lot of orders so this tends to be the time I spend working on tests. First and foremost, I glazed up a handful of pots that needed to be glazed and set those aside and then began making up a group of 25 tests, some new and a few retests of older glazes with new materials. Of these tests, all will be put on stoneware, porcelain and small batch sandy clay pods to see what I get, in turn most of these will be tested with the group of existing glazes I use as well as trying out the new glazes in various combos, this process yields the greatest variety if not successes, that is statistically (?) possible.    

As cliché as this may sound, this has been my pathway to discovery; “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett

SPACE²

Beside the concept of how pottery is packed and shipped, I have to admit, I am always curious about how and where collector’s store their collections. Part of this interest is the fact that I have seen collections that have hundreds, even thousands of pots wondering just where are all those empty wood boxes? I suspect for most, having a handful of pots doesn’t really lead to taking up large portions of living space but when you get to several hundred or many multiples of that amount, I suspect some clever storage options are needed. Coupled with the ceramic occupation is that many decide to display all of their collections leading to the necessity of have space to have pottery out and more space for the wood storage boxes (space²). Our display/ storage strategy is simple, rotate the collection with only a small group of pots out at any given moment which can make a smaller collection seem more grand in scale.     

In one visit to NYC and seeing a rather fine collection, the exterior of the apartment walls, mostly windows were fitted with cabinet style shelves, this concealed the boxes and allowed for display on the tops of the running surfaces. I was later informed that there was actually an adjoining apartment that served as more storage and display areas, must be nice!     

Illustrated is a recent encounter of one collector’s answer to storage, between a hallway and a bedroom, which has become a sitting room of sorts, the walls have recessed, open shelves making for perfect storage of boxed pottery. Composed of a range of types, sizes and forms, the shelves are just out of the way as you move past them but perfect for holding quite a few pieces all with their hakogaki facing away from the lighting and any sun that finds its way there. I am sure there are quite a few options for storage, some unique, many redundant at least in concept but all a necessary consideration for every Japanese pottery collector.  

“The more storage you have, the more stuff you accumulate.”  Alexis Stewart

INTRIGUED

I have to admit, there are times when what I become focused on will, even surprise me. I wanted to share this crazy bowl I bought by Kobayashi Bunichi and as you may guess it not my normal type of bowl. I think I was in part inspired to be curious because of the surrounding facts; this was previously exhibited at a show in Mino Prefecture, won an award for being the best "utsushimono" copy (Ko-Seto), is in a catalogue and came with a personal letter from the potter as well as a full-page newspaper article which shows this chawan among others. Last and perhaps least was the original extravagant price tag, this mention may be a bit crass, though I was intrigued by the bowl, this helped pushed me over the edge to acquire it.     

Despite the real bargain nature of the piece, in hand I can say I am very pleased with it as despite being a bit outside of my norms, it has everything I look for in a chawan, function meets aesthetics. There is an authenticity to the pot, the throwing, trimming and casual glazing are all simple and direct not to mention it is a beast at 15.8cm, just my size of bowl! The surface variations and running glaze animates the piece  and the rough cuts around the foot, opening the clay texture and terminating in a modest sized kodai acts as the perfect pedestal for this conical form. All in all, I have no complaints and in fact, that is about the most I can ask for. On a side note, should also mention, the wood box is a class act as well?