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.
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