T-POT REVISITED

For whatever it is worth, no I am not losing my marbles, I am aware that I posted this teapot in a post way back in 2012. To be fair, the previous post showed a rather washed-out version of what this rich, porcelain lobed teapot actually looks like and this ‘revisited” photo does a much better job. This teapot was thrown and constructed by Bruce Cochrane, a potter whom I always think of as focused and well considered, his pots have just exactly what they need and no more, not exactly less is more but just what the concept into reality calls for. My wife and I have owned this pot for a very long time and if memory serves me correctly it was our very first piece by Cochrane followed less than a week later by a large terra cotta covered oval dish form. I thought this needed a slightly better photo to represent the piece and, in all likelihood, when I get a better camera or develop better photographic skills, I may try my hand again at capturing exactly what it is that makes this so special though I guess it isn’t that hard to figure out.

SIROCCO

Today started out like any other day and then by late afternoon after finishing glazing and loading the small kiln, it seemed like chaos blew in like some ill-humored sirocco of old. As such, I will be brief, no hyperbole, no waxing poetic, here is a simple photo, enjoy or don’t, this is the best my scrambled mind can handle at the moment. Tetsu-yu nanten-mon tsubo by Karaki Hisao.

GBA²

It is funny how things sometimes work in cycles; this particular decoration started back in the 90s and every now and again it pops up to come full circle. In this case a thrown stoneware bowl was coerced square and then white slipped, gently combed before having black slip spontaneously trailed across the planes. Once the semi-vertical lines were created, the spots were added via finger painting the slip to add some punctuation to the lines. All in all, there is nothing revolutionary here, just a simple assembly of several ideas all under my GB amber glaze meant to imitate the old Cushing Albany amber as best as possible minus the Albany slip and the Cushing recipe. Last but not least since every technique needs a name, this was originally referred to as khaotique by a Belgian student at CSU and for lack of something better, it just stuck.

PROTAGONIST

Though the kinuta form originated sometime in the Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the form likely goes back quite a way from there having originally being made of wood and used as a type of “hammer” during the neolithic age. That being said, once the jump to clay, the wide array of interpretations of this form has been rather varied and during the 20^th century in Japan, kinuta-hanaire become not only popular but wildly diverse. Illustrated is a rather classic, even textbook kinuta form by Furutani Michi who has left quite a number of examples for our appreciation and study and though not any real achievement, I think I have seen well over quite a few pieces in person and certainly several dozen more in illustrations.   

This mallet vase is a wonderful, very well fired Iga piece with a number of effects creating a rich landscape which is currently highlighted by the mid-day’s sunshine bringing out the color variations, the crackling, the ash build-up and the texture created by being in just the right spot during the firing. Though not particularly large, many of this form, this one included, presents itself as a rather imposing, stoic form, which has fought against the ferocity of its firing process and emerged the victor, the protagonist which has defied the odds with its defiant posture and unique and expressive presentation. Though I will readily admit a bias, I think many of Furutani Michio Shigaraki and Iga pieces are truly outstanding but this Iga kinuta is clearly timeless with a rather medieval visage something the potter excelled at imbuing his pieces with history, tradition and a sense of self, there is little more that you could ask for.

SIDE NOTE

Though I have written and posted about Okano Hosei previously, I have to say, this oburi Shigaraki chawan just captured my attention when I first saw it. Large and in charge probably describe the attitude of this bowl which was well fired, upside down to boot where gravity defying effects are painted across the surface creating a rather captivating landscape. The form itself is simple but from a non-chanoyu person’s perspective and thinking of it as a vessel, it is nearly perfect; full, round, the perfect silhouette where volume, posture and attitude reign supreme*. The interior, the mikomi and at the other end, the kodai are both very well attended completing this simple package or rather aiding in tying it all together. There are a number of details when all assembled, create a captivating chawan, perhaps (?) the best one I have seen by Okano, excepting one, illustrated in an exhibition catalogue.   

On a side note, at some point after the purchase of this chawan, the new owner(s) wrote to Okano-san and asked about the bowl and its “unexplained” details to which he replied with a lengthy letter complete with several drawn illustrations of how the bowl was fired upside down and where it was placed in the kiln. This letter accompanied the chawan to the “New World” and with any luck will continue on through time as a testament of a wonderful bowl and a connection between potter and customer, possibly friend that I suspect has been echoed throughout history. 

(* Yes, that was an IRON CHEF reference.)

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

I recently had a prolonged conversation about what makes a good pot and though I am neither expert or terrifically insightful, judging a pot may start with the whole but may end with the details. In as much, I think in judging a potter, like Tsukigata (or any other potter) there are a variety of factors that push a piece into the upper 5% of their work, the “good stuff”*, then you judge those pieces on acknowledged masterworks and go from there. I realize I don't have a monopoly on pottery knowledge and aesthetics but I have read quite a bit, seen and handled a lot of pots as well as having attended conferences and lectures by people much smarter than me. I try to use objective aesthetic theory and principles in judging a pot and determining what is a "good" Tsukigata and what is worth just moving on from trying to avoid relying on pure emotions. Pots aren't coins where you can judge them on standardized criteria, pottery, most art is all about the nuances and subtleties. I think I have come to the conclusion that something good may have an infinitesimal difference from something that is not, it is all about how the details are all stacked up, that is why I am so detail oriented and post about this on my blog and elsewhere. The devil truly is in the details.

 (*Though not intended as a B-52s reference, it worked out quite nicely none the same.)

THE SPIRITS OF TESTING

I suspect at its core, this surface probably seems like a lot of the surfaces I like working with, this one is a bit subtle but I think has some potential for being upscaled at least to a teabowl size before I decide if I should continue on. Using a small faceted guinomi this is a bit different in that the base glaze has an ash glaze over it that also has some manganese carbonate in it, a material that doesn’t get nearly enough credit but, in this case, where it had a secondary “dose" applied with a brush, it creates nice waterfalls of streaking that perks up the surface quite a bit.      

As you can see in the picture, the surface runs quite a bit as well which is why the ash glaze was only dipped to the skirt and still managed to run all the way down to the foot where it looks like a disaster must have occurred but through kiln-god providence, it stopped a micron short of becoming one with the plinth it was fired on. Time to make up a bit more glaze and sacrifice a teabowl to the spirits of testing.

CHOICES

I recently handled a rather interesting and illustrated Iga chawan by Kojima Kenji. At first, I kind of ignored the catalogue and focused on the bowl, the captivating form, the movement of the bowl, the slightly undulating lip, the glassy, well fired exterior and the classic Kojima kodai built for stability and purpose. As time ticked by, I finally made my way to the catalogue packed with all kinds of pots I would just love to handle until I came across the teabowl in hand. I must admit, the first thought that sprung to mind was, why did they choose this angle to photograph the bowl as there are a multitude of perspectives this could have been shot from, at least four strong and impressive points. To my eye the catalogue photo shows a rather strong chawan, one certainly worth getting to know the bowl better by but in my opinion, there are better vantage points that better articulate the nature of this Iga chawan. I guess I will continue to ponder the reasoning behind the choice which gave way to a larger question in my mind, just how many other catalogue photos just hide features that would have been better off to showcase? I am sure I will never get an answer to this question.

PASS OR FAIL

Just a simple couple of yunomi with hakeme slip decoration under a soda blue glaze. I have received a bit of feedback from “un-named” critics* who don’t like the degree of inward curve to the lip but to my eye and lip, this is what makes this form work but does it pass or fail? The basic idea was to use the same general curve starting from the base in different directs but essentially mimicking each other, one good to grip and the other good to drink from. Having these in hand, I think they work well and the use of the opposing curves is exactly what makes this form. I would welcome any feedback as even all the years on, I am always looking to see other viewpoints beyond my own. (*One of these critics is a very good friend and I greatly appreciate his input despite the fact that he is wrong!) 

HIDDEN ASSETS

I am sure I am not alone in this, I suspect every collector has a potter or two that they think of as hidden assets among modern Japanese pottery. They are potters where you just like the way they work, fire, handle clay, decorate, their pots speak to you but in the general collecting scheme of things they are not one of the “top dogs”, they are not LNT or on the circuit of the big galleries but to you, there pots are rather underrated. When I think of these potters, I constantly come back to this motto I have come up with where “it is better to have a great pot by a good potter than a good pot by a great potter”. Seeing where a potter has excelled beyond his skill set, these are pots than speak to me and at their core carry out a long and lasting conversation over the years and even decades.   

Among this group of hidden assets, I count the work of Masamune Satoru and Kimura Morinobu at the top of my go to group of good potters who make great pots and this chawan is just another classic example of that philosophy. This Chinese inspired temmoku chawan was made by Kimura Morinobu likely during the 90s and has a wonderful, celestial style surface of minute iron crystals punctuated across the surface inside and out and further arranged by the five-point hoshi star burst in the center of the bowl. This bowl was thrown thinly and has almost seems weightless in the hand, the fine form culminates in a thin, delicate lip and a shallow cut kodai harkening back to numerous Chinese temmoku archetypes. This chawan typifies what draws me to Kimura’s ash or iron glazed ware; thoughtful and considered forms, glazing, decoration and firing, what more could one hope for from a potter?