A CLEAR PICTURE

Illustrated is a wonderful little Iga tokkuri by Hasu Yoshitaka with a dark, ash encrusted surface and lots of activity that a European collector sent me pictures of recently. I am a big fan of the prominent shell scars on the face of the pot where it was fired laying down which also resulted in the ominous drop of ash lingering and defying the laws of nature but adding to the tension of the piece. Perhaps as a page borrowed from his master, Banura Shiro, Hasu has carved undulating furrows around the tokkuri creating a very nice sense of movement and also adding quite a bit to the textural experience and allowing some addition ash and glaze to build up. This is one of those pots that at first glance appears to be a rather spontaneous creation but as I look at the piece in a number of photos sent it is rather clear that the potter had a good idea, a clear picture of the finished presentation and a bit of experience with the process and if you want proof just look at the simple posture and defiant pose of the lip and you will have all that you need.

QUARTER SPEED

I used this tokkuri back in 2018 as my Happy New Years post and a Youtube video slideshow and decided after all this time to pull it out and make a short slo-motion video of the pot to help fill in the gaps using a better camera and crisper image. Made by Kojima Kenji this Iga tokkuri is a perfect size and is as pleasing in its function as it is with the aesthetics of the piece. As is quite readily apparent, this tokkuri was fired on its belly and the ash has melted and run to the center turning gravity on its head a bit while standing upright and the real bonus is the wonderful bidoro drip stuck on the lip looking like some promethean jeweler has embedded an emerald into the moth of the pot. I hope the video gives a fuller sense of the size volume and dimension of the Iga tokkuri and that the quarter speed of the video gives ample time to see the landscape as it truly is in person.

BEST LAID PLANS

This abstrakt resist covered jar was an extra piece, the largest of a set of matching pieces as a commission and because I am paranoid, I made an second of the biggest one to make sure I would have all five pieces for a holiday commission. As luck would have it, both large jars made it out in great shape but the smallest jar, about 8" tall spiral cracked around the lid knob rendering it useless, something that I certainly didn't plan on and rarely see happen. As I inspected the crack it was clear that somehow a piece of organic material was inside the clay creating an air pocket (which may have been a piece of string?), something I also haven't seen in a rather long time. I had to go ahead and make another small covered jar and got the group of five packed and shipped out and I am left with this 13"+ piece as a bonus. The firing that this jar was in seemed to be a bit hotter than normal which leads to the really dark black surface and the bright colors showing as the spiral/slash repeat design. I am glad both of the bigger jars made it out safe and sound and I have thrown two extra lids to try to fit to the small jar knowing the original dimensions; time, a bisque, a glaze firing and time will tell how that works out.

P&T

I have put up posts on my blog previously about the potter Yamada Seiji and when ever I think of his work, two things spring to mind; proportions and texture. Though I am sure this is a generalization as every potter has good days and bad, with many of the encounter of Yamada's work the proportions of the respective pot are quite spot on, whether it be the bowl size or shape in relation to the kodai or a vase like this Shino mallet where the body and neck work quite well together where the body tapers inward as it rises to be topped off by a neck that does just the opposite and the height of each works well to compliment the overall aesthetics of the pot. 

Beyond the form and proportions of this mallet, the use of a single glaze in varying thickness has created a pleasant landscape, abstractly painted with color and texture to help narrate the structure. Using skill and intuition accumulated over decades, Yamada builds his pots based on purpose while acting as a canvas for the beauty of Shino which he has written about over the years and has concluded that Shino deserves the right degree of respect, can not be forced and should be used in just the right way. Though that expression was paraphrased, what is clear is that with his pottery in general and Shino specifically, Yamada Seiji understands that Shino is the most Japanese of all glazes and should only be used with insight and respect which is clearly baked in to the clay and glaze that he has married together through fire and a bit of personal creativity.

NEXT

Since being introduced to the Karatsu pottery of Nakatsuka Takaya by Robert Yellin many years ago I have been on a constant look out for his pottery as I find it to be simple, honest and humble in its execution and appearance. Though I have had a number of encounters, overwhelmingly the chance meetings have been disproportionately chaire for some reason of another where out of perhaps twenty or so piece that I have handled, at least a dozen of them are of the diminutive form and scale. 

This particular chaire was my last serendipitous encounter just a little over a year ago and the initial impression was like I was looking at some well kept Edo specimen showing a rather simple and classic form with a surface created by using several glazes and the anticipated addenda from the wood firing process itself where fly ash has further enhanced the wardrobe of this chaire. Despite the propensity to run into chaire what I can say is the wide variety and range in form, surface and style the pieces have been from Ao-Karatsu to Madara Garatsu  and a few in between, all processing the look of antique pots from a tradition and time out of the past. Truth be told, I don't think I would complain if the next pot that I happen to see is a tea caddy as look as it is as interesting and conversant as this simple Karatsu chaire .

BACK TO IT

Having taken the time to make a small teabowl based on the surface of Maximilian armor a short while back, the next day I decided to get right back to it and made a few more pieces utilizing that surface. Illustrated is a small covered box form with a B.C. or PROMETHEUS inspired finial that I have been working with. The box and surface have that certain Gothic appearance to my mind and should work quite well with  a variety of surface, the least of which are the Oribe variations that I constantly resort to. Though the carving looks a bit rough in the picture that has been addressed with a bit of light sanding so the sharp bits are at a minimum but the crisp lines and clay breaks are left intact. 

In my last post on this technique I mentioned that I had worked with this particular technique in the past which dates back to Cleveland but to be honest beyond that I am just not sure when it was employed. I know that I have been using the simpler fluting method for quite some time and as recently as a few months ago but I am just not sure if I used it in the past decade. That being said, I do seem to remember using this surface treatment under some vellum blue pots and that was definitely since moving back to NY State. I guess the point is that times just flies by but every now and again I like to reach back to older techniques or styles and get back to the basics and see where the ideas lead "as time goes by".

GIFTED

I recently posted up an old photo of a Ki-Seto chawan by Kishimoto Kennin on my Instagram page and as fate would have it is now in hand and ready for its close-up. The collector who sent this my way is down-sizing his collection and thought I would appreciate the bowl and rest assured Kishimoto is one of my favorite potters who has tackled and master a wide array of pottery from Iga to kannyu style seiji and quite a bit in between. As you can see this gifted chawan has a classic style form with a nice amount of lift off the foot, a centrally raised border around the pot and a very study and practical lip that softly undulates bringing ones attention to the interior of the chawan. The interior is composed of mostly a glassy Ki-seto style surface while the face has a scorched aburage quality with the areas feathered out to each side create a beautiful transition to the yellow ash cloaked rear. I should mention that both of the transitions form effects where ash combined with the glaze and has created rather attractive and animated waterfall of ash running down the sides with a slight nudge by heat and gravity. As for the foot which is exposed clay, it shows off the sandy quality of the clay surrounded by glaze and is as crisp as the day it was cut, perhaps 40 years ago. It is quite clear that Kishimoto kennin was using various historical Ki-Seto chawan as his inspiration especially in the form but the surface has that 20th century look that can easily remind one of the work of Arakawa Toyozo and Kato Touro and if you are going to be influenced by other potters are there any better than those two giants?

THE GENES

 Quite some while back I used this Iga guinomi by Furutani Kazuya but decided to revisit it and took a few quick, impromptu photos. As you can see, the centrally located bidoro drip defies gravity as the pot was fired on its side and this area was facing downward during the firing. Much of the top and sides are covered in ash and show runs which collide with the gem-like drip that gets most of the attention. In fact, the form of this guinomi is well considered, holds a generous amount of liquid and really works wonderfully in the hand with the patented eye toward function his father was so well known for. As for the interior, like the exterior there is a nice coat of ash and a vivid, deep green pool created in the hollow as the ash found its way into the small pot. Last but not least the foot was well executed and has that classic look of a chawan that is seen on Furutani Kazuya's work and that of his late father Furutani Michio. Looking at this diminutive piece it is clear there is something in the genes of the Furutani; from Michio, Kazuya and his brother Noriyuki where utility, aesthetics and understanding of clay and glaze permeates the work and is on display even in a humble and unpretentious guinomi.

I'LL ORDER A THREE PIECE

I was asked by a customer recently about ordering a small dinnerware set and what exactly that entails, so I dug out some sample pictures and waited for more information. In an exchange of emails what became clear is that they were not looking for a standard or conservative set but rather something tailored to a unique environment of a very small area designed as a breakfast nook that may seat four and no more. The conclusion also was they actually weren't looking for dinnerware per se but rather three specific pieces that would serve as breakfast, brunch or lunch pieces and they knew how they wanted the pieces decorated. What was decided on was a non-traditional three piece set; shallow plate shape measuring 11.5", a shallow bowl for bisque, soup or pasta (an omni-bowl if you will) at 10.5" and a smaller 6" bowl for various uses including deserts. In the scheme of things this wasn't a large order, I set about making five of each piece to be on the safe side one afternoon and then tooled and bisque them. Prior to this I had sent them a small bowl that was glazed in my temmoku and trailed medieval green decoration so that they could approve the surface and once okayed, the pieces were glazed and fired, all fifteen pieces.    

 What is illustrated is the dozen pieces, three sets of four of three specific forms I have made countless times now and are pots that we use here at the house as well. I am sure I have made four dozen or more sets of these pots in this combination with most of the sets also including a more standard  flattish dinner plate at about 11.5" or 12". All is fair when it comes to these orders and honestly the limitations is it has to be something I make routinely enough as to not lose an entire set so there are some glazes and glaze combinations that are absolutely out of the question.

OFF-WHITE PURITY

I was looking through some images that I have transferred from 35mm slides to digital images and came across this particular photo the other day. I have to say that though we have been to the Kawai Kanjiro memorial Museum in Kyoto quite a few times, this photo was taken on our very first trip there which was one of the main reasons for our time in Kyoto. Like many of the pots and objects scattered about the house, you can almost reach out and touch the pieces, really getting a measure of the dimension and volume of each pot but it is the presence of the pot that really hits you standing right in front of it. I remember thinking at the time that this form was just perfect, streamlined, noble and honest in its simplicity with this surface of a slightly off-white purity acting as canvas for a wonderful Kawai Kanjiro motif that was just timeless and spontaneous in its execution. It will sound odd but it was rather emotional standing within all of these profound pots and though I have taken quite a few pictures at the museum since our first visit, this photo always brings me back to that very first trip and the moment I came face to face with this most ideal pot. Even now I am reminded of the Kawai line from one of his poems; "What a wonderful now. It is surely eternity." and when I look through these photos I believe I am transported to the now, even momentarily and the memories and atmosphere are brought back to life, how could they not.