UTILITARIAN ELEGANCE

Illustrated is a rather simple and practical gosu glazed covered serving bowl by Kawai Takeichi. As one would expect, having spent a long while under the tutelage of Kawai Kanjiro, this piece based in total function has a utilitarian elegance in both design and execution. The knob was made to both compliment the form/lid as well as to be easy to grasp and pleasant to the eye, the flange around the area where the lid sits serves as an area that fits the hand well as a built in handle all around the form. It is these conscious and unconscious developments that are seen in many Kawai school pots that create a distinct look which is easily identifiable as the works of the master and his students. There is an undisputed brilliance to the forms and surfaces of Kawai Kanjiro which he passed on to his students by sheer fact that they were surrounded by his work, both finished and in progress; a great student, sees the work and has most of his questions answered for him of which Kawai Takeichi was certainly among the most accomplished.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2014

Borrowing from the well know toast; "here is to hoping that the best of 2013 is the worst of your 2014!". Happy New Year to everyone, best of pottery making for potters and happy hunting for all you collectors out there.

Illustrated is a nice Iga tokkuri and guinomi by Furutani Kazuya, son and student of the late, great master potter, Furutani Michio. KANPAI!

BONJI

Illustrated is a carved wood panel from a catalogue I found circa 1983. The panel was carved by Tsukigata Nahiko and portrays a bonji or an ancient Sanskrit character which originated in Northern Indian and through centuries of transmission made their way in to Japan and were used by a variety of Buddhist sects for mantra(s) and sutra. This is the first bonji I have seen carved by Tsukigata and the choice of wood, style of carving and placement within the panel are just wonderful.

PAINTED SNOW

Illustrated is a casual photo of a superb pot sent to me by a collector friend. Though like the casual photo, the pot is also rich in symbolism and movement with the feeling of being both relaxed and immediate. This horai, iron glazed mizusashi was made by Shimizu U'ichi (1926-2004) and reflects the spirited nature of winter with the balance of the austere black iron and the fluffy white glaze with the quick rendition of the kanji for flower and moon ( and snow just out of view) etched through the white with the finger, like painted snow of a by-gone  and well practiced literati master. Working out of Shiga, originally a native Gojo-zaka potter from Kyoto, Shimizu makes use of clay and materials from the Hira Mountains which divide Kyoto from Lake Biwa and Shigaraki. Beyond creating a unique vision in iron and celadon glazes, the works of Shimizu U'ichi reflect the blend of the rustic,  the cultured and the brevity and serendipitous that is evoked in the environment and pottery that surrounded this 20th century master.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I wanted to take a moment and wish everyone out there a very Happy Holiday and a most joyous New Year. With family, friends or home alone celebrating alone, I truly hope all are moved and filled with the positive and festive sentiments of the season.

Here are two enjoyable if not entirely tradition Christmas classics;

OUT OF TOUCH

Just a quick note to say that I will be out of touch with both computer and blog for a while. Hopefully you can enjoy looking back through some prior posts and try to keep warm and dry during the last days of fall and the determined and obviously unstoppable arrival of winter.

Illustrated is a quick shot of the Kon Chiharu uzukumaru vase from last week's post, basking in a rare moment of sunlight.

NOT THE DRINK

Illustrated is a pot made in the Tang Dynasty style, though many, many years later. This phoenix-headed ewer is glazed in the sancai style made popular during the Tang period (618-906), the body is a softer earthenware with molded handle and beak spout attached. The ewer has a number of sprigged decorations applied around the body and once glazed, the amber form is further highlighted by copper and cobalt accents which accentuate the details and decorations of the form. Though not a piece made during the Tang Dynasty, it certainly represents the spirit of the time and was crafted in a traditional manner, meant to mimic the original processes of ancient China. The origins of these pots spreads across the old Silk Road trade route, originating in ancient Persian and were quickly imitated in their own unique style in China beginning in the early 8th century. In exchange for silks and spices, the Persian merchants traded luxurious silver, pottery and textiles that were highly coveted by the burgeoning nobility of the period. This ewer is certainly a pleasant enough piece and surely as close to an original as I will ever get, looking rather nice up on a shelf and even getting dusted from time to time.

Old Tang Commercial

PHASES

Like the phases of the moon, I assembled this picture to give a 360  panoramic view of the landscape of this Shigaraki vase. Patterned after a classic uzukumaru-gata form pot, this thoroughly modern interpretation is by Niigata resident, Kon Chiharu. Though not a large pot, the manner in which it was made gives it a tall posture which is exceedingly complimented by the intense firing in which the pot was subjected and this bidoro and ash rich surface was expertly crafted. Fired on its side, the landscape has taken on a wonderful array of effects from a sheer sheet of green glass to running ash flows ending in deep green bidoro drips, the most noticeable and evocative hangs, suspended off the lip defying all known principles of reason; but after all, isn't that what wood firing is all about?

"A man always has two reasons for doing anything - a good reason and the real reason." JP Morgan (1837-1913)

JUST ENOUGH SPACE

Illustrated is a small, maybe 7" tall cap jar with ring knob glazed in temmoku and iron red. I made a small group of pots this scale; they are easy to pick up in one hand and have an intimate sense and scale to them. I would think they are rather practical with uses ranging from storing teabags, candy, cat food or sugar. A plus about a smaller jar is that the possibilities are endless as they have just enough space for use and takes much less room than most of the jars that I make, perhaps about as much as a teabowl. It is a bit hard to tell from this photo, but the lid is a richer iron red color with lots of shimmering iron crystals which match up nicely with the crystals that can be seen running down the tendrils of the glaze on the body of the pot. I am pleased with the way the jar came out; simply thrown and simply glazed, this is as close as it gets to making and baking.

TANG POEM

Simple in design, execution and decoration but regal in its bearing, this Tang dynasty influenced melon shaped chaire exudes a sense of luxury and brings to mind the lyrical poetry of that period . As a combination of his father's work, historical archetypes and his own personal expression, this chaire by Kato Kobei VII is a visual gem. The fluted form has rich aubergine tones that define the form vertically while the whole is cloaked in a soft and tranquil amethyst glaze with accents of a stark yellow and green which calls the eye to this sancai influenced pot. Kato Kobei VII has blended not only Chinese and Japanese elements in this distinctly Japanese pot, but has put his own stamp on the style in the manner in which the elements of this chaire were created. Though an amalgam of time and geography, this pot has a sense of being distinctly ancient and modern at the same moment.

"When Cold Mountain (Han Shan) is cold

Ice seals the rocks

Storing mountain-green

The sun shines forth

The ice melts a while

And on this warmth

An old man survives." (An early Tang Dynasty poem by a mostly anonymous poet)