ANOTHER ECHIZEN TOKKURI

Illustrated is another Echizen tokkuri  a classic yuteki-temmoku piece shrouded in shadow and basking in bright sunlight perhaps bearing a classic Chinese glaze surface while being distinctly Japanese in origin and purpose. This sunlit tokkuri was made by Echizen potter, Sasaki Yuzuru, pupil of Kimura Morikazu who specializes in iron glazes of a wide variety including the oilspot technique with a yellow background that I have posted up previously on my blog. This yuteki temmoku tokkuri is stout and solid with a friendly demeanor and a rather utilitarian form including the neck and mouth that make it easy to grasp and pour from. As for the surface, the background is a dark, almost intense bluish black covered over in varying size spots that are like small rings or halos within even more composed of several colors and looking a bit like electrons circling the nucleus of some as yet unidentified atom. What I end up taking away from seeing a number of pots by Sasaki Yuzuru may sound cliché but form really does follow function in totality and the surface is never a secondary consideration from the moment he puts the clay on the wheel.  

STARTING WITH THE BONES

In a recent series of email exchanges regarding teabowls (chawan) with a fellow collector and tea person, I started thinking about getting back to basics, simplifying the form and starting with the bones without considering the glaze surface. In an effort to try to get the lines of the form right, I decided to use an Edo period Raku chawan as a jumping off point  to create a rather practical form and size bowl. I opted for a rather low foot with just enough lift to animate the bowl and create a suggestive shadow line and the piece(s) were softly thrown to allow the lip to undulate naturally and finished with a simple foot that is stable and like the bowl, simple in execution.    

Once set up, the teabowl(s) were tooled  allowing the surfaces of the clay to be dealt with by using faceting to better define the form while creating movement and decoration at the same time. The secondary purpose of the faceting is that it opens the clay exposing the texture and sand to good effect once glazed adding more dimension to the finished, fired work with the right choice of glazes. Though still quite wet, once bisque the plan is to go with the Kuro-Oribe style surfaces to accentuate the facets and vertical quality of the bowls and still give an intimate picture in to the clay texture underneath. I only threw two teabowls in this style, having other things to do and wanting to see what the fired results end up like but I think they came out the way I saw them in my mind and now need to wait and see what the end results end up like.

NATURAL FLOW

In some respects I am reminded of the stacked "chimney pots" of American potters like Peter Voulkos and Don Reitz as I look at this wood fired Tamba piece but this form pre-dates the 20th century and finds its inspiration sometime in the Edo period of pre-modern Japan. Made by a member of the extended Ichino family of Tamba, this vessel was made by Ichino Genwa and shows a clear understanding of a thoughtful use of clay and flame. Though not particularly large this form has a large presence and the firing created a unique landscape on the face where the pot laid face down during the process allowing the ash to reach around like some alien grip  which terminate in a series of drops now frozen as part of the narrative. 

When surveying the other side of the form it is easy to conclude that this is a somber piece but as you following the movement to the face that initial impression gives way to one of contemplation and a sense of animation, a reminder of the connection of pottery and humanity through the millennium. It is this wonderful quality of wood fired pots that I find so attractive, opposite surfaces from front to back uniquely created that despite their difference there is a natural flow in to one another in a continuous and natural manner creating a landscape that changes as you navigate the piece. This is another one of those "simple" pieces but of a good purposeful and strong form combined with a well fired surface and though I may ask this way too often, what more can you ask from a pot?

MUKUNOKI CELADON

When I think of Mukunoki Eizo what first comes to mind is the modern palette of Kawai Kanjiro with surfaces of Hamada and Mashiko slipped in for good measure. I rarely think of Chinese influenced celadon (or other glazes) for his work but I really need to remember that Kawai Kanjiro started his pursuit of pottery in testing and also using Chinese glazes for his work in the 1920's and 1930's. If you thumb through any book on Kawai you will run in to masterworks using Chinese glazes and techniques as well as celadon pieces as part of his early work.   

In this respect it is only fitting that Mukunoki Eizo would turn his attention to similar glazes during his career making pots, both influenced by his master and seeing the benefit of such surfaces to accentuate and bring his ideas to life. Turning his attention to seiji style glazes among others, this is a classic example of his work, thrown out of a white stoneware filled with feldspar inclusions the teabowl has been decorated with a florid sliptrail design around the entirety of the pot under a glaze of various thickness and fractures at times being rather thick and presenting a rather exotic appearance. This chawan is quite sturdy in posture, purpose and throwing with the glaze giving it a lighter appearance than it has in hand. Like his master, I am really rarely surprised by the form or surfaces that Mukunoki Eizo comes up with presenting a focused blend of the past and present as well as the master and disciple.

STEP 2 , PART 2

From a late September (2021) firing, illustrated is what I consider to be the best of the recent saffron and Hagi white glaze tests stepped up from pod to yunomi and to teabowl, you have to learn to crawl before you can walk. Though I actually tried out this glaze combo on a slightly larger jar, for whatever reason, the glaze and surface really popped on this waisted style teabowl with a wide array of effects that I am beginning to expect from this style. The secondary saffron, iron yellow glaze runs just enough to create a nice sense of movement adding a bit to the vertical nature of the piece with a nice palette of hues and textures scattered about the surface like a nice autumn landscape right down to the coloration with the inclusions in the clay adding even more visual punctuation.   

I have to admit that I am liking this surface and the activities it presents especially over the small batch clay that I am making with mixed sand in it. That being said the clay is a bit rough to throw but I am getting used to it and even with the inclusions it has a good degree of plasticity and certainly stands up rather well. I have become rather addicted to texture over the last handful of years and this clay with this surface or even my Oribe or Kuro-Oribe is perfect for the task. I have managed to find a source of good clean small stone that I may try mixing in to the clay body but I wonder at what point is enough, enough? I am thinking for the time being I may actually "hold fast' exactly where I am.

SCENIC OVERVIEW

There are advantages to living in central NY State, the Mohawk Valley that out way some of the things you can miss out on living a distance from a large city by the view is not one of them. We live way up on the northern slope of the valley which gives us a wonderful view in to the valley and on clear days you can see for miles and miles south, all painted by white in the winter, lush green for the better part of spring and summer and the dazzling medley of colors during fall. Not far from our house is a small pull off on the route, a scenic overview that allows one to stop and peer out into "our" valley, this view makes it much easier to make pots than one would think.   

Now to the point and how I got here, recently I was able to photograph this piece and what sprung to mind was any number of scenic overviews I have seen over the years. The is a wonderful balance of lushness and dramatic movement that appears more like a living thing than a static object but you can see the narration of material, glaze and fire all laid out like some captivating landscape viewed from a chosen strategic vantage point. The pot in the spotlight is a mostly snowy white Oni-Shino vase by Tsukigata Nahiko covered over in a thin coat of all natural green ash that adds a slight tint to the surface. The vase is accompanied by a nice rich, royal blue shifuku and a signed box and with any luck I will photograph the piece with a bit more time and depth in the coming months which will make for a nice road trip and my type of scenic overview.

TETSU-KUMO

Looking like dark, ominous tetsu-kumo, clouds of iron, Ikai Yuichi comes to his use of ash and iron in his glazes quite naturally having studied with Shimizu Uichi, Juyo Mukei Bunkazai for Tetsuyu-toki (Iron glazed pottery). Instead of just mimicking his master, Ikai has used his ash and iron to their fullest effect to reflect his inner vision, his voice for haiyu and tetsuyu in these modern times. The soft appearance of the ash glaze over the iron rich clay is interrupted by wild flourishes of iron creating Rorschach style imagery just likes the imagination interprets a wide array of imagery as clouds float by. The form of this chawan is practical and very usable, devoid of pretense while presenting a great canvas for the surface made permanent by experience and fire.   

I should note that though his master specialized in iron based glazes, Ikai has made his specialization ash glazes though the two are intertwined. In the case of this chawan, both surfaces are in fact iron glazes though separated by only the percentage of the ingredient in each; in the ash glaze an exceedingly small amount while in the iron splashes perhaps ten to twenty times more. Together with creating his ash glazes, comes the choices and preparation of ash for the glazes relying on rice husk, various straw types and red pine, rendering them by fire the unifying element of every potters work. In the end there is a simplicity and contemplative nature to his work even when surfaces are brought to life by should "loud" punctuations, akin to a Zen brush hitting paper at full force, it is as much about the space that surrounds these marks as the marks themselves and this is always good for some long term conversation.

UPDATED AO+

I seems like it has been quite some time since I have posted up any of my AO+ pieces and since some just came out of the kiln a while back I thought I would post up a piece. I had been procrastinating making up more of the glaze as about an inch was left in the bucket and that was not going to be enough to glaze anything with the exception of some chopstick rests. This quickly faceted teabowl was thrown out of the new white stoneware mix that I have been making up in 10 and 20 pound batches that has the sand mixed in as well which can be a bit abrasive during the initial mixing of the clay as well as the throwing of the pots. Thrown just a bit heavier than normal this bowl was quickly faceted and then had the form corrected a bit, especially the mouth as the process gets the pot out of round rather quickly. Once bisque the bowl is brushed off vigorously to dislodge any of the sand that is not firmly attached and dipped in a thin coat of clear prior to having the interior poured and the outside dipped in the AO+ glaze.    

What you see is one of a small group of bowls and covered pieces that were fired and because of the nature of the glaze it is easy to see all of the nooks and crannies as well as each mark made by the faceting process. I have to admit I am liking making up these small batches of clay, they have qualities that boxed clay doesn't have especially in regards to throwing/ drying as well as the physical appearance once fired. I am beginning to wonder about making up 50 or 100 pounds of clay at a time but for the time being I'll stick to mixing up 20 pounds (dry), turning it into a thickish slip and drying it out on plaster for now, maybe when I get my second wind I'll move on to more ambitious amounts.

テクスチャ

I have noticed over the past hand full of years that I am more and more drawn in to pots with eccentric and heavily textured surfaces. These surface create a dramatic, other worldly topography that compliments and in many cases makes the forms underneath exactly what they are. This heavily textured pot is just one of those surfaces that I am intrigued by where the potter, Kato Yoshiaki has used a thick Shino style feldspar glaze and crafted it to form a crackled, pebbled sharkskin glaze seemingly under a fair degree of tension. Once glazed these pots are wood fired and natural ash builds up and coats various parts of the pot and at times creates enough of a coating to melt and run down the exterior adding even more to the animated pot.    

This particular vase is one I have seen quite a few of over the years, it would seem to be a classic staple of his kiln intended as some bamboo form with heavy spatula work around the body and culminating in a flared neck. Though I have seen at least a dozen or more, each one is unique in exactly how it is thrown with proportions be adjusted on the fly and the termination of the piece resulting in a variety of differing necks and mouth making each pot, part of the series but mostly unique. As in this vase, most are thrown with a slightly flared foot matching the mouth and then are rather "rudely" lifted off the wheel creating this distinct indented set of finger marks around the base. I realize the Kato Yoshiaki is not exactly a household name but the more I see of his work, the more I appreciate the textures and forms and the simple honesty of his pottery that creates that meaningful dialogue between potter, pot and its owner(s).

THE CHOICE

A couple weeks back I noticed that Jeff Oestreich was having a sale off his website and since I have been looking for a couple of yunomi for a while, it seemed to be excellent timing. My wife and I each choose one and just received two very nice thrown and altered yunomi, made square and additionally faceted giving each piece quite a bit of movement and verticality. Illustrated is the yunomi I choose having a rather tall and simple form, the slight flare, purposeful facets and elegant slip hakeme just drew me to the piece. As you add in the simple device displayed proudly front and center and its orientation to the pierced foot make a rather tranquil and thoughtful vessel and as a bonus the misty, cloud like flashing brings more depth to the surface which is alive with subtleties and visual texture. I realize this is a humble and simple yunomi but the amount of effort and thoughtfulness that has gone in to this functional vessel elevates the pot and makes it all the more rewarding in its use and quite possibly others may agree and say; "you chose wisely".