YET ANOTHER

Illustrated is yet another uzukumaru style vase with a shoulder blanketed in ash and a cascade that encircles the pieces in 360 degrees. This uzukumaru has a decorated shoulder as well but in this case it is not the classic Shigaraki fence design but rather a series of arabesque slashes and cuts in the clay that makes for a rich border around this robust pot. Though seemingly a classic style Shigaraki piece this pot hails from Mashiko and was made by veteran potter Takauchi Shugo (b.1937). Most likely best known for his Shino and Oribe pottery, Shugo has produced a number of classically inspired pots that have been wood fired without glaze (yakishime) and are haikaburi style. This sturdy and classic piece was made in the early 1990's and has a wonderful array of wood fired effects with a well addressed mouth and neck and rather fanciful decoration with a lyrical quality. Though made a distance from Shigaraki, this pot embodies the feudal spirit of the archetypical uzukumaru while blending traditionalism with spontaneous expressionism (of design) that Takauchi Shugo is well known for.

UNEXPECTED

If you stop and think about the Mino potter, Toyoba Seiya (b. 1942), a wide variety of styles come to mind; from earthy kohiki wares, Oribe, Shino of various styles, Ki-Seto and even Seto-guro. What may come as a surprise is the yakishime style that he makes which includes both Bizen and Shigaraki pottery. Having maintained a long apprenticeship under Arakawa Toyozo which lasted 14 years, it was not until 1974 that he went on to build his own studio and kiln at the foot of his master's studio. It was only natural that he would take the styles he studied to hand and ply his craft around the variety of Mino tradition potteries at which his master was so adept. Like a fellow apprentice, Tsukigata Nahiko, Toyoba was exposed to the fullest variety of work that Arakawa created and this also became ingrained in his psyche. Once he set up his own studio, it was time to explore the vast array of clay in his own voice and for some, it is the unexpected that best suits one's true temperament.

Toyoba Seiya continues to create works in a wide variety of styles and from time to time also fires Bizen and Shigaraki pots in his wood kiln, presumably nearest to the fire-mouth to encourage natural ash (shizen-yu) build up on the pieces. Illustrated is a rather lovely Shigaraki chawan by Toyoba that has been streamlined in form, the vagaries and superfluous details shed to let the form, clay and fired surface communicate without any boundaries or impediments. Surveying the well ash coated form, over the lip and into the bowl, there is an luscious pool of green glass that collected leaving tell-tale clues as to how the pot was fired. This clearly is one of those chawan that would have been equally at home in the early Edo Period or a modern tea room of the 21st century.

"There is nothing special about making ceramics. That is why it's so difficult." Toyoba Seiya

HI-IRO

One of the most incredible features of yakishime (refering to the the natural and unglazed pottery of Shigaraki, Iga, Bizen, Echizen, Tamba and Tokoname as well as others) is when the surface appears caught in a moment of time. The ash or flame makes for a keshiki landscape of frozen motion. The drip of ash suspended in time or the hi-iro (fire color) showing the shadows of other pots and pads, these make these potteries visually alive.

When I think of hi-iro, my mind often wanders to the pot illustrated, a large tsubo by a member of one of the large Tamba families, Ichino Etsuo (市野 悦夫). It is thrown from a fine grained clay and the form is precise and noble and the hi-iro decoration shows the pathway of the flames as they licked this pot during the firing. It resembles the wispy pathways of a planetary storm of some alien world. The hi-iro is caused by volatizing fumes within the flame and they lay on accidental, incidental decoration of where the velocity of the fire caresses the pot. Though somewhat serendipitous, the potter must know his clay and kiln and how to fire the kiln for the pot to come out so lively. The beauty of yakishime pottery is the evidence of the flame that says something different to every pot and every viewer, a symphony in flame, burned onto the pot.

(Ichino Etsuo Tamba tsubo used with permission from a private collection)