MIMITSUKI

The are very few pots so elemental and imbued with an absolute physical presence as that of wood-fired pottery where the nearly endless and varying landscapes effects paint a picture in fire and ash. Though not fired to the excess of some modern pieces, this exceptional mimitsuki hanaire (lugged flower vase) by the twentieth-century master Konishi Heinai II shows off a sense of seasoned nobility where restraint and just the right touch bring the clay to life. In its creation, a duality has been born, a stark contrast exists between its faces and the reverse is locked in where you witness the raw and unapologetic narrative of a Momoyama-inspired vision brought to life.    

The surface of this hanaire is a simple lesson in the wabi-sabi aesthetic, the front facade presents an asymmetric landscape of scorched clay, vertical scoring lines, and trails of natural ash glaze that runs down its flank, simple and evocative in its presentation. It would be quite difficult to mistake this vase as passive pottery; it is a lively conversation and active confrontation with the fire. The flared and dramatic mouth is cloaked in an array of effects from matt, smokey charcoal to a richer, wetter green ash pointing to the all-natural accumulation characteristic of intense wood firings. As you turn your attention around the pot the transition reveals the build-up of ash on one side versus the dry, charcoal scorched planes on the other, embodying a sense of unrefined, timeless decay that celebrates imperfection, impermanence, and the simple integrity of the medium with what I think of as slightly ominous undertones.    

In the historical vocabulary of Iga-yaki, the mimitsuki or attached "ears" (lugs) are far from mere ornamentation they reflect a certain expected nobility in Iga-yaki. Historically rooted in Iga’s past, these prominent, hand-sculpted lugs, though just a vestige of their original actual function, add a visible, structural balance to the form and serve to anchor the vessel’s posture as well as break up the verticality of the pot. These aesthetic additions provide a structural counterweight to the often heavily distorted, paddled and gently manipulated cylindrical nature of the piece coordinating with the neck, mouth and lip to give these pieces their iconic, architectural silhouette.        

Without these lugs, many Iga vase forms risks losing their distinct attitude and some measure of its identity; they frame the vessel’s torso, break up any uniformity and help spotlight its deliberate, hand-altered asymmetry. Drawing on his master’s instruction and centuries of established and well-known Iga archetypes, Konishi Heinai II understood that these elements must be entirely natural and feel deeply integrated, acting as extensions forged directly from the core rather than mere contrived afterthoughts and additions. Ultimately, Heinai II was committed to keeping medieval traditions alive, approaching the kiln with a mindset that valued historical archetypes while demanding a visceral, textured finish, form and presence. This hanaire stands as a testament to that philosophy—a powerful work that commands attention through sheer physical presence and its look back into the past.