BEIN' GREEN

Illustrated is a square  and squat formed Oribe kogo by Ishii Takahiro. Like the chaire I posted previously it is part of a tea set for chanoyu that includes the chawan, mizusashi, chaire, kogo and futaoki which all have a similar style of glazing to tie the pieces together. The kogo shows a rich clay flavor and texture that peaks out from behind areas of Ishii's Oribe glaze making for a very interesting landscape and the unglazed knob springs out from the nearly black, frosted top of the piece adding yet another dimension to the small and intimate pot. The eight sided form has just enough faceted texture to provoke the glaze to vary which makes this simple kogo interesting and different from a variety of vantage points. Bein' green isn't so bad after all.

"You see with your eyes. You know with your heart." Jim Henson (1936-1990)

CU DIVERSITY

Illustrated is a close-up of the interior of an Oribe Mizusashi by Kakurezaki Ryuichi apprentice; Ishii Takahiro. The interior, truly highlights the rich diversity that a copper glaze, in this case an Oribe, is capable of. Though only one glaze, as the glaze matured and pooled into the bottom of the interior, it has gone from a rich, translucent grassy green to  an opaque boundary of blue-green  with black spots being formed by the build up of  high concentrations of copper forming black metallic crystals. The opaque blue-green has also created an effect reminiscent of pine-needles floating about the surface. In terms of any Oribe glaze, I don't think you could have asked for more diversity and testament to the possibilities of using copper.

For anyone interested in learning more about the elements, I would suggest watching this short video.