REPURPOSED CLAY AND WOOD

This is one of those spur of the moment, let's see what the heck will happen if I try to repurpose a squared Oribe vase and turn it in to a covered piece with a wood and copper lid and as you can see here are the results, neither great nor terrible. I had made several of these vases some while back and this one got pushed to the back of a shelf and basically forgotten about until my superior wood working skills needed some flexing and I decided to make a wood lid for the piece. The wood was from a scrap piece of old cedar from several houses back that was cut to shape and then with the aid of a rasp, two small chisels and some sand paper was worked to fit the form and sit inside the lip of the ceramic piece. After some vigorous sanding the wood lid was "lacquered" using a stained polyurethane and made ready for the addition of a copper loop handle by drilling two oval slots. The copper loop handle was made by taking a piece of thick copper wire (scrap) and hammering it flat and then bending it to the desired shape which accentuated the hand hammered marks on the surface. The copper was then set with two part epoxy and there you have another wood lid which all told, cost nothing as everything was on hand or scrap excepting perhaps a little over an hour's labor or so. As I keep reminding myself, I am no woodworker and should just stick to clay but now and again what is the worst that happens, you waste an hour or so and I can live with that.

DAY IN, DAY OUT

I realize that I put up a blog post about this haikaburi uzukumaru style tsubo by Takauchi Shugo some while back but ran across this sunlight and shadow photo and decided to put this up well. In many respects these photos using the sun and shadow help focus in on various details from the the casual manner in which the mouth was formed, study and well defined and perfect for trapping ash to the aminated, free style incised decoration which is part and parcel of Takauchi's vocabulary to the opaque, running ash showing off against the fire flashed surface in perfect contrast. These are common observations but perhaps my favorite aspect of these photos is that there is a direct relationship to medieval antecedants where such an object was defined by sunlight and occasionally the moonlight as well. 

As the light fades and candle power takes over the crispness of form and surface are taken over by the mysterious encroachment of shadow until the pot fades away into the background of the environment periodically lit by the glow of the moon only to be revealed fully again come dawn. I like this cycle where the pot is always changing from dawn to dusk and am rather thankful that I have a few spots that are perfect for creating this experience day in and day out, rain or shine as the day drifts by.

SIX SIDED POT

cube; /kyoob/ noun; a symmetrical three dimensional shape, solid or hollow, contained by six equal squares

 I know I have written about Hagi potter Mukuhara Kashun previously on my blog, my encounters with his work go all the way back to the days of visiting scholar and author Dr. Fred Beakeland. Over the years it has been a bit unclear as to why I seem to have an affinity from his work, early exposure or interest in Hagi in general and like a good handful of other potters the reality is that I just am attracted to the way they handle clay. As for this group of potters and Mukuhara in particular I enjoy the directness visible in the clay and forms, the honesty is almost immediately apparent and the pots are neither fussy or overly complicated. In these works, like this illustrated kaku-gata Hagi mizusashi, there is no need for superfluous detail, purpose, function comes first with aesthetics coming in at a close second, why add more when the principle is that less is sometimes really more especially when dealing with a six sided pot. 

 Thrown out of a rich, red clay, this mizusashi was paddled square and then carefully faceted from top to bottom leaving a distinct border around the base that gives the pot a degree of visual and actual stability while present a coarse and rustic impression. Once glazed, the mizusashi was wood fired and has a wide array of effects from areas of charcoal carburization, blushing and white crystal growth and a nice coating of wood ash both fine and coarse across the top, sides and on the lid. Though when generally thinking about a cube or square, static seems to come to mind but with the facets, slight manipulation of the sides and the motion of the glaze, the piece has movement and is alive with its purpose and filled with an honest quality. 

I am not sure that I can really adequately describe why the pots of Mukuhara Kashun among others resonates with me. With just the right encounters I am left feeling enriched by the experience and feeling a deep sense of having seen a simple object created and fired by embracing the most common elements to produce what is clearly not your every day pot.

OBJECT

This pot was acquired on our very first trip to Japan. Early that year, 1990, we met Kohyama Yasuhisa at the home of Michael Cunningham who back them was the curator of Japanese art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. At that time we were invited by Kohyama-san to come to his studio should we get to Japan and we did just that about six months later. Having toured Shigaraki the previous week with the help of the Honiwa family, we made another journey to Shigaraki where we were met by Nakamoto Nakae and spent the better part of an afternoon visiting with Kohyama-san and seeing his studio, kiln and workshop. We left with a kogo and guinomi as gifts as well as a tokkuri and this object all well packed in my backpack. 

Though only about 6" tall this "object" was coil built out of coarse Shigaraki clay with a rough opening and several pattened Kohyama facets on either side. The surface of the piece has a wonderful, pure light green surface of all natural ash that doesn't mask the clay surface allowing all the faceting marks and feldspar pieces to help articulate this small, intimate form. Though this was not one of Kohyama Yasuhisa's large KAZE pots at the very least we had a wonderful experience visiting and still managed to walk away with four very pleasing and cherished pots that were easy to carry and in my opinion are much larger than their actual size would ever convey.

PLAY A BIT

I made this spade vase form quite a while back out of spare parts from a "construction job" that I was working on. Though it took a while, it finally got fired and here is the finished piece glazed in my Kuro-Oribe style surface with some additions sprayed over using a glaze atomizer. I can say though this was a spontaneous build, I may have had an eye toward Hans Cooper's spade pieces to get me to this point and once assembled, I pierced squares in the supporting foot and incised abstracted field designs on either side. Overall the surface works quite well on the form, the attached ring lugs and the incised decoration giving the vase form a nice, aged appearance that has differing faces depending on what light source it is exposed to. At the end of the day for a spontaneous build,interesting form, random decoration and a rather reliable surface it was enjoyable to play a bit with the left over parts and get a piece that I certainly would not have built but for these circumstances. 

On a side note if you look at the very bottom of the foot you will see a duistinct, green roll of glaze just hanging above the surface. How this just created this roll and didn't run off is another one of those decidedly cosmic conundrums of ceramics.

IN MOTION III

I made this short video of the Tamba wood fired hakeme chawan by Nishibata Daibi a short while ago. I have handled a number of hakeme chawan but for some reason when I think of hakeme these days, this bowls springs to mind and was just a great all around encounter. This chawan has a rather primal and elemental spirit that makes it a fine, functional and aesthetic pot in hand, in use or just hanging about on a desk or shelf. Though I posted this as a static image previously I was hoping this less than professional video would give a bit more insight into the form, dimension and surface. Enjoy. 

The original post for this chawan can be seen here; 

https://albedo3studio.blogspot.com/2020/04/in-moment.html

ORIGIN STORY

Illustrated is another in a group of covered box forms that I have been making on and off for two years now. Like many, this one is has an Oribe glaze with a dusting of iron sprayed over it using an atomizer and underneath are bands of black and white brushed around the body with incised decoration added to bring a bit of movement to the form. As for the form, though not large it has a sturdy and broad appearance with a low lid profile, strategically cut feet and finished off with a Prometheus or B.C. inspired finial. Though I keep describing the finial as having two origins, the truth is that in both the movie and the original comic, the device in question are both similar in appearance though one a bit more benign than the other. 

Inevitably I will continue to use the two origin descriptor I have to admit as a young teen I grew up with either a B.C. or WIZARD OF ID paperback in my backpack literally 24/7/365 so I think that the B.C. origin has to win out in the origin story of this device. This particular covered box form was made over last winter at some point when I began making these for every stoneware/ porcelain cycle and now the most recent ones are a bit more like small classical covered jar with amber and soda blue adding to the palette. I love covered pieces, making and collecting, who doesn't like a well fit lid and the mysterious contents held within?

IN USE

Looking a bit like these gladiolas exploded like fireworks out of this decidedly medieval looking jar this Kumano tsubo is fait acompli through one possible use of the form. This and a few other photos were sent to me by a collector in Japan where he described himself as the "junk sale winner" when this pot arrived at his doorstep and proved to be far better than expected. From my perspective, this pot has that old appearance made by a farmer/ potter of the Late Sengoku or Momoyama periods like portrayed in the Mizoguchi Kenji genre film, UGETSU MONOGATARI. However your relate to this slightly mis-shapened and very well fired Echizen tsubo its portrayal in the traditional tokonoma, on roiro lacquer stand, filled with flowers with calligraphy acting as the back drop, this Kumano pot is transported to almost anytime or place in Japan over the last five centuries or more than likely from as recent as 2023.

SOLITARY PURSUITS

Illustrated is a landscape medallion painted iro-e enamels tsubo which to my eye is as close to modern Kutani as one can get. Made by Mitsui Tamekichi III, you can see a bit of Kitade Tojiro and Asakura Isokichi in his work, both masters he went on to study with after graduating from Kanazawa College of Art. The form and decoration work in a wonderful syncranicity where the exacting brushwork and color compliments the tsubo as well as create a rather luxurious visual where each medallion portrays and evokes a far off classic landscape that captures solitary pursuits and lifestyles of long forgotten aesthetes, literati and hermits. Though not particularly large, about 10" x 10" or so the volume of the pot creates a greater size than the measurements would convey which was a bit of a surprise when this pot was purchased from an Australian dealer off of the ubiquitous auction website all the way back in March of 1998*, the Wild West Days of the internet. Since this purchase, my wife has never lost interest in painted porcelains though I suspect Tomimoto Kenjichi has a bit to do with that. 

*I should mention that other than pots with receipts, I usually don't know exactly when we bought a specific pot but we signed up for the website on 3/21/1998 and then bid and won this pot on that day where the Western Union fees were almost greater that the cost of the pot and seamail shipping!

BLANKS

Illustrated is what I refer to as a "blank" and I must admit it doesn't necessarily make for an exciting picture. This blank, one of five, four squares and an oval built up too quickly in the afternoon and are just too wet to decorate with the exception of the oval one which was the first and is now complete and ready for the bisque. The group are made of terra cotta and have a thin layer of black slip applied and should be ready to carve tomorrow in the late morning. I needed this group for a selection of pots I am working on for a gallery space and needed some tebori and snowberry pieces and the square tray forms fit the bill. This particular piece will have a flying birds motif inked on it as a preparatory sketch and then I will carve out the design, one tray after another. I like the carving process in small doses of four or five pieces and try to have other work to engage in like tooling or throwing to keep the process from getting too stiff of tiring. Luckily I threw a group pf 4.5lb bowls and two 18" plates and I need a group of small "side bowls" ordered by a customer that need to be thrown so the carving should go just fine or at least that is my hope.