YUGEN

Illustrated is a serene Shigaraki chawan by Shiga Prefectural Intangible Cultural Property, Ueda Naokata V (b.1927). Perched atop a strong, stable foot the bowl has a seductive curved form that is covered in ash on the face with vivid, wet fire color around the back of the form and into the interior creating a piece of profound grace and subtlety. The slight lean to the posture and undulation to the lip serves to welcome the viewer to explore the form and enjoy the presence and utility of the pot. Ueda Naokata V studied at the Kyoto Ceramic Research Institute and with his father, Naokata IV (1898-1975) and together they helped revive the traditional methods of anagama firing in the Shigaraki Valley for which both are held in very high regard. Known for his creation of insightful and classic teaware (chadogu) Naokata V has been collected by a number of museums throughout Japan and abroad and is also included in a number of pottery compendium of modern Japanese pottery. We were very fortunate to have been able to met with Ueda-san on each of our trips to Japan in the 1990s and have a wonderful presento from our last visit to always remind us of both the character and generosity of this legendary potter.

CAN I GET A ROLL WITH THAT, PLEASE?

One of the things that I really like about both old and modern yuteki-temmoku chawan is when the glaze terminates in a thick, gravity defying roll. The glaze roll is both visually pleasing and tactilely engaging adding a definitive characteristic to the area of the kodai.  Illustrated is the kodai of a chawan by Takahashi Wasaburo who I have written about before. Combining his study with iron specialist and Ningen kokuho, Shimizu U'ichi and Shigaraki veteran Ueda Naokata, this chawan is glazed in a thick, dark, rich yuteki-temmoku and the roll of glaze meets up to the wet hi-iro that covers the foot except where the pot was stood on wads during the wood firing. The crisply cut foot fits the chawan well as does the mixture of fat glaze and the effects of the wood kiln to create a unique and well executed kodai that pays tribute to both of his former teachers and his inescapable reliance on tradition.