1:2 x 3:2= 砧

 

For just the briefest moment today, a sliver of sun came in through the back window on to the shelves on the wall and for just an instant, this pot peaked out from the shadows. Showing off a coating of all natural ash this anagama fired Iga kinuta vase shows off its simple surface that is composed of a myriad of subtle colors that make up this ice sheet compressed within the line of the shoulder and a border of charcoal from where the pot rested during the end of the intense wood firing. I really respond to the interaction between clay and Sun but in the end, the pot has to deliver the goods all on its own, the lighting is just the delivery system of the senses in this case. In terms of this mallet, this is likely one of the simplest and purest kinuta forms that I have seen by Furutani Michio, stripped down, slightly angled sides and neck the minimal amount of marks around the torso of the piece. Fired in presumably one of the best spot in his kiln, Furutani allowed the firing process to write a majority of the story across the surface of the pot which as with many of his pieces at first glance seems a simple story but like many a great work, it is the subtleties, the nuances and the variations in color and light that portray a much more vivid and complex narrative at which this potter excelled. Even in the shadows, it is easy to see the mastery of Furutani Michio on full display and easily recognizable as Iga at its modern best.

COLORIZATION

I know this is not exactly a great photo, in fact it is a jpeg of a photo from a Japanese ceramic magazine from 1987 and shows a rather early piece by Fujioka Shuhei. Though this piece looks a lot more Shigaraki than Iga, Fujioka is best known for his angular, hacked at, sculptural Iga works which are intensely fired and easily recognized due his unique style. This vase really catches my attention partly due to the fact that it is just as carefree and wonky a mallet vase as can be with not a hint of being over worked or contrived in any way which is just as it should be. The vase was fired on its side as evidenced by the ash pattern which is running across the sides and the remnants of shell scars show on the rear which is also the direction the neck is now leaning due to the fact that it was marginally supported during the firing producing the effect now seen. One can only image the color and tones based on individual experiences but I for one would love to see this piece in all of its glorious color and I doubt it would disappoint even one tiny bit. Where is Ted Turner and his colorization process when you need it?

"The spirit of Old Iga,
its body born in these hands,
and the soul which transcends time,
gives life to that which I shape."  Fujioka Shuhei (from the website of Fujioka Shuhei)

ANOTHER MALLET VASE

I was searching around on the web and came across this picture of a nice Shino mallet vase by Mizuno Takuzo, my original search didn't pan out despite searching for some time so in some ways this vase is a consolation prize of sorts. The form is certainly deliberate in nature with the type of inward taper moving toward the shoulder with the neck flaring out as it goes up giving the mallet just the right sense of proportions and geometry that appeals to me. Though there doesn't appear to be any iron slip applied, the Shino surface has blushed to pinks and orange flashes from top to bottom and coupled with the excellent texture makes for a rather visually engaging pot. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the shallow depression that moves from the shoulder to the neck which is highlighted by a spiraling texture that goes around the pot and is dusted with just a hint of wood ash especially in the depressions. I think if I was pressed I could come up with a reasonable explanation of what it is about the mallet form that interests me, but the short cut to the answer is simple, it appeals to me at a visceral level, I respond to the borrowed purpose and weathered aesthetic that is imparted on pots just exactly like this piece by Mizuno Takuzo. There is little more that I can ask or expect from a pot.

VARIETAS

Illustrated is another Shino mallet vase by Mino veteran, Yamada Seiji. Though similar to one from a previous post, this form is far more sturdy and purposeful as if it is an exact copy of a well used and weathered wood mallet that has seen years and years of serious and abusive work. Yamada created this piece with a  short neck and simple tapered body complimenting each other quite well and making for a very natural and cohesive shape. Covered in a lustrous Shino glaze with alluring areas of blushing seen around the base and is complimented with a faint yuzu style texture and interconnecting fissures created by the glaze tension. The pot is finished off with a slightly chamfered foot which helps raise the pot off the ground and making it much more pleasing to the eye. The more mallet form vases I see the greater number of details unfold making for a form that never gets old and is a balance of both simplicity and variety.

The previous Yamada Seiji mallet post can be found here;

http://albedo3studio.blogspot.com/2015/02/seiji-shino.html

SEIJI-SHINO

Having the form and posture of a well worn wooden mallet, this Shino pot is by veteran Mino potter, Yamada Seiji. The form is classic and well conceived with the flaring outward base and the same in reverse for the neck of the pot. The glaze, which I refer to as Seiji-Shino is wonderful with rich tones of reddish orange punctuate the form from top to bottom and the texture created by varying thickness of glaze with cells, fissures and pocks creating a distant and  somewhat alien landscape. Though many potters make and use Shino and many of their glazes look similar, there is a uniqueness to Yamada's glaze, a blend of the shiny and muted within the feldspar surface and textures that are recognizable as his work. The real beauty of the pots of Yamada Seiji is his ability to make simple pots crafted with careful details and beautiful glazes that have a great deal to say when filled with tea, flowers and food.

"Good Vases have free style shapes. They also make flowers much more beautiful and lively. Every time you arrange flowers with them, you can get new excitement." A quote from THE BEAUTY OF SHINO by Yamada Seiji

BOOK COVER

I know a book dealer who from time to time finds books on Japanese pottery and recently he found a nice set of five books on "famous" potters of the Showa period. As I unpacked the group, each in their own protective boxes, the first volume I pulled out immediately got my attention. On the full color dust jacket is a fine Tsukigata Nahiko kinuta vase. Being fond of not only the form, but the potter, I thought it rather telling that this was the pot chosen for the cover where all the other illustrations are B/W. Some of the other volumes had pictures of Koyama Fujio, Miwa Kyusetsu and Kusube Yaichi on the covers so obviously both author and publisher thought extremely highly of Tsukigata and his work. Illustrated is a photo of the book cover, a very fine and rustic looking Oni-Shino kinuta-hanaire, the surface is a rich blend of glassy and semi-dry ash creating a wonderful landscape and the fissures that are a by-product of a tumultuous and brutal firing add a charm to the pot, creating a timeless beauty. Having seen a number of this form by Tsukigata, I can say they have a great sense of strength and honesty that few pots can match. On occasion I use the term "book cover pot" to emphasize the importance and bearing of a piece, in this case it has that and so much more.

"You can't judge a book by its cover."  Old Anonymous Idiom

SQUARE DEAL II

I have seen square form kinuta vases before, mostly older Chinese pieces and late Edo and Meiji Period Japanese examples. The coil built and thrown and altered examples seem to be mostly 20th century as far as I can tell, though I am open to evidence to the contrary. The modern "squared" kinuta are seen frequently, but not exclusively in Hagi and Bizen though in each case the forms differ quite a bit and move as far afield from the archetype as possible, maintaining enough of the characteristics to be recognizable. The illustrated Bizen vase was made by Kaneshige Michiaki in the 1980s. It was thrown and the form squared up using ribs and scrapers to define the geometry of the piece. The creative process is written all over the form where scratches add unintentional decoration to the pot that is completed with hi-iro, ash and bota-mochi areas where flame and ash were denied access. I find the totemic form exceptionally stoic and determined with a purity that is defined by lines and planes that are casual and weathered; the perfect blend of the Momoyama aesthetic and modern design.

PAINTED WITH FIRE

This Shigaraki kinuta vase is by Furutani Michio whose construction of the pot, placement in the kiln and exceptional firing have created a lyrical pot that is literally "painted with fire". Like the sun rising over some distant mountain range, this mallet vase is all about landscape, literally a painting in three dimensions created by bare tsuchi-aji, natural ash and hi-iro. Furutani is arguably the best potter to use an anagama from both Iga and Shigaraki pottery during the 20th century. His works builds on a medieval tradition and it is his sensitivity to material and fire that has left a body of work that present such phenomenal blend of katachi and keshiki (form and landscape surface). Given the large number of these forms that Furutani has left, he must have had an affinity and comfort with making them with each one proving to be an exercise in form and foresight as to how and where they would be fired. These simple pots present a narrative that is weathered and understated and though created in the chaotic atmosphere of the anagama carry a tranquil and eloquent tone that will inspire for many generations to come.

LESS MEANS MORE

It is exceedingly easy to marvel at simplicity. How is it possible to strip away the unwanted encumbrances, additions, distractions, to do away with all the superfluous that can weigh down an object? There is a palpable complexity to simplicity and in its creation, it is never born from over thought, conscious action, rather it springs from a disciplined and well practiced extension of years of unconscious repetition earned over decades of "doing". A simple object exudes a clarity of idea and purpose since there is nothing to clutter the direct intent of its function in a classic example of "less means more". As a potter, I know I can be guilty of "more means more" and though I won't blame our modern times for that stern indoctrination, it is not a simple thing to work consciously in an unconscious manner, for most of us, it goes against our accumulated experiences. It might be this fact alone that makes the creation of simple, honest pots both so difficult and so greatly admired, quite frankly, simple is just awfully hard.

Illustrated is a straightforward and uncomplicated mallet vase by one of the brilliant talents of modern Japan, Hori Ichiro. Uncluttered in form, yet noble and gestural in its simplicity, the pot has been dipped, seemingly, hap-hazardly in a satiny smooth Shino glaze that has created an nearly infinite variety of effects and has painted a masterful surface over the pot. The manner in which the Shino has areas of thick and thin glaze, varying effects, together with rich tsuchi-aji and the aftermath of wood-firing has served to create a pot that is anything but simple. The vase has much to say about the process of creation, materials and the potter, a conversation that may start out as a simple whispered word or two that over time as a lifelong companion, has a great deal to say about its presence, tradition and an artist who has combined the old with the new.

WOOD & CLAY

Illustrated on the left is an austere and weathered wooden kizuchi style mallet, in its own way, it has a sculptural presence and is classical mingei. It is mallets exactly like this one that have inspired potters to turn wood in to clay over a number of centuries and this particular example makes a great test subject. The pot on the right is a rather old haiyu glazed kinuta vase by "ex-salary man" and Mashiko staple; Takauchi Shugo. Created rather early in his pottery career, probably in the mid-1970s, this piece is another simple and casually thrown pot with just the right balance of proportions, throwing marks and gesture to make for a successful form. The use of a thick and runny ash glaze creates further movement in the pot creating dark areas where the glaze has settled in to the throwing lines and the way the glaze is running down the neck creates a wonderful vertical sense to the piece as well as creating a rich pool in the depressed area of the shoulder. Though made early on, this pot shows the individuality, skill and sense of proportion of form that has set Takeuchi Shugo's pottery apart from most potters today.

"That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of our times."  John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

A CASUAL FORM

Perhaps my favorite potter who made mallet style vases was Arakawa Toyozo, I know it is not too great a stretch and an easy choice, but many of his pots just don't appear to have been thrown, rather conjured from his mind's eye. His ability to create pots that are the purest embodiment of the tea ethos are unrivaled in 20th century pottery. Having been fortunate enough to see several examples in person and quite a number in books and catalogues, his kinuta forms in Shino, Seto-Guro and Ki-Seto set a monumental standard for the form for his students and just about every other modern potter. From my perspective, it is one of his students that took to heart what Arakawa was trying to express through this particular form and that student was Tsukigata Nahiko. From early on in his career, Tsukigata pursued the ideal of this form, warping it and perfecting it to his own vision over time and like his master (sensei), he created forms that are casual creations that are also spontaneous and unconscious apparitions in clay. Over his more than five decades of potting, Tsukigata left a large number of kinuta forms in a wide variety of styles and each one is a distinct exercise in creating forms that follow in the footsteps of his teacher, a tradition and a pathway that he emblazoned through his unique and bold voice.

Illustrated is an Oni-Shino mallet vase by Tsukigata Nahiko from a portfolio published in the 1980's. I doubt a piece can get more classic for Oni-Shino with a wide array of effects and beautiful green ash built up around the shoulder and cascading down the body of the pot. The posture and appearance of the piece draws direct correlations to worn and weathered wood mallets used, abused and left out exposed to the elements gathering more and more character as time goes by. The contrasting angles of shoulder and mouth happen effortlessly as an extension of a potter who was both familiar and comfortable with the concept through years of studied creation of this casual form. This level of simplicity coupled with such a complex surface is the result of mastery of material, process and fire, that began, the day Tsukigata entered the workshop of Arakawa Toyozo and continued throughout his life in clay.

KINUTA

Though there is no definitive origin for the all wood mallet, it is safe to say it was being used by both the ancient Egyptians and throughout China at all roughly the same time. For ease sake and for definition, the mallet I am referring to is called a kizuchi in Japan, a wooden handle with a wooden head. As with most forms, at some point this form transitioned from the tool archetype to ceramic object. This would seem to have occurred sometime in the Sung Dynasty (1127-1279) with the kinuta* forms being popular in Northern and Southern Sung, though to best be perfected in the Longquan celadon of the Southern Sung (Zhejiang Province). The kinuta of the North Sung tend to be unadorned and pure in form and those of Southern Sung see the additions of a flared mouth and handles, though the unadorned type is seen in the south at the same time as well. Most of these pieces were glazed in the sumptuous Longquan celadon creating a rather noble and elegant statement of form and purity of surface.

Through trade with China,  kinuta vessels made their way into Japan during the Sung(1127-1279) and Yuan Dynasties (1279-1368) and beyond to Buddhist temples, wealthy warlords and tea masters (like Sen no Rikyu) from the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods onward. These karamono (Chinese things) became known as Kinuta from the term, "kinu-ita" a process in which cloth was pounded with a kizuchi mallet to shine and soften cloth. Though in this instance identified with the manufacture of cloth, the kizuchi was a general, all purpose wood tool, easily made and used for everything from wood-working, print-making, cloth production and a wide variety of other roles. In general, these newly imported kinuta pieces were not necessarily available for widespread study and the adoption of the form in the Japanese pottery vernacular took some time. With collections in several temples, slowly, but surely, the kinuta form began to be manufactured in Japan in another example of study, copy, adopt and create to best suit indigenous needs.

Like their Chinese counterparts, the Japanese kinuta forms tend to fall in to two categories, those with handles (additions or appendages) and those without. With time, the forms became a bit loser and casual which  reflected the wabi/sabi nature of chanoyu as well as subscribing to an antithetical reaction to the more formalized form. I am not concluding the more casual, deformed and distorted kinuta form is a reaction to the stiffer, more formalized pieces, but the looser forms find their foundations in the original karamono, while seeking to emulate the well used and weathered wood kizuchi as a possible archetype. The more casual form was well suited to a new style of pottery making that swept through the Momoyama period where the perfection of form is subjugated to the perfection of the irregular, the austere and the casual. Most modern Japanese potters seek to emulate that style and with the works of such notable potters as Arakawa Toyozo, Tsukigata Nahiko, Furutani Michio, Hori Ichiro and many others, the beauty of the irregular kinuta is alive and well.

As with most pots that are simple in appearance, the kinuta form is a bit more complex than it would appear. One of the largest challenges, when making the pot is to construct the vessel in a way that the body or base is simpatico with the neck/column of the piece. It may sound easy, but getting the proportions and complimenting angles right takes practiced and a studied eye. From a less than scientific study, the angles of the base are many times mimicked in reverse at the neck and where the form has mostly straight lines, the top and bottom will usually have similar lines as to not create a pot that is visually perceived as two pieces. As for the transition from the base to neck, it is this area that maintains the pot as a whole and keeps the pot from being merely pieces stuck on top of one another, ultimately, this is the weak point for tying the form together and again is navigated through study and practice. Some kinuta also have additions, lugs or appendages added to the neck to break up the line, this is common on seiji and seihakuji pieces which many times have molded additions as well as wood fired pots to deflect and alter the path of the fire and ash. In the end, like any good pot, it is all about trial and error but in this case, we have at least nearly eight centuries of examples to learn from and draw time tested conclusions from.

Illustrated is a kinuta style vase with pinched on lugs by Shigaraki veteran potter, Sawa Kiyotsugu (b. 1948). Made using the coil and throw style of potting, the vase has a sturdy and classic appearance with a great transition from body to neck and completed with an exceptionally seductive lip and mouth all the while pointing to the fact that he has made quite a number of mallet vases. Using primarily red pine for his wood source and firing in both noborigama and anagama, Sawa is not only an accomplished potter, but a mentor to a number of younger potters who are all now coming in to their own. This particular vase was pulled out of the red hot kiln, hikidashi style**, freezing the ash into glass over almost the entire surface of the pot with green glass running around the lip of the mouth and down the piece accentuating the vertical nature of the pot. Like his father before him and his son today, Sawa Kiyotsugu is interested in the possibilities of the clay and fire and is constantly striving to continue imbuing his creative and modern spirit in to every pot he fires.

(*kizuchi; mallet with wooden handle and head,  kanazuchi; hammer with wooden handle and iron head)

(** By following this link, you can see a short video of the hikidashi process showing Sawa Katsunori, son of Kiyotsugu, pulling pots out of the red hot kiln; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnU9uWERpDM   )