ZIP, ZERO, NADA, NOTHING

Illustrated is a classical koro by Kyoto potter Nishikawa Minoru. The form is simple and very functional perched on three feet while the surface is covered in a serene texture and an area of purple splashed across the face and repeated as a ring around the mouth as well. The well fit lid is carved of wood, fits rather snug and is pierced with a number of ginko leaf devices across the surface. Relying a bit on some Chinese ideal from times long past, Nishikawa created a number of works based on Jun-yao style and other Sung traditions but as you can see there is a distinctly Japanese flair crafted under the tutelage of Kusube Yaichi and Kano Mitsuo, that distinguishes this koro from works 4000km to the West.       

Like many pots coming from Japan, this one has its own unique story and one to my mind that clearly defies the odds and gave in completely to fate and the whims of the travel gods. When the package arrived, the top was compressed, looking a bit like an accordian and I could clearly hear the koro moving about freely within the box. Once opened what meet my gaze surprised if not amazed me, the koro was on its side with a piece of paper wedging the wood lid onto the pot without the benefit of any packing materials; zip, zero, nada, nothing. I removed the pot and carefully inspected it including under a 10X magnifier but the rugged, sturdy koro arrived completely intact despite a journey of over 10,000km. I have had poorly packed and even fragile pots arrive unscathed but not since the early days of eBay have I had a piece arrive sans any protection what-so-ever. To whomever packed it, didn't their parents tell them, always use protection?

A GOOD HANDFUL

I suspect at first glance this E-Shino style chawan could be taken for a number of mino traditional potters but the truth is this particular potter is known for anything but conventional works based on centuries of archetypes. This chawan was made by Tsukigata Nahiko and contrary to its style, it is not exactly what I would call early work being made in the late 1980s, though I would call it a good handful of clay. As you can see the area above the foot swells out giving the form more volume before tapering back in a bit making it a easy to use, functional chawan where the thick glaze enhances its fullness and adds a layer of depth and texture. The sparse use of spontaneous iron decoration breaks up the surface and creates a Momoyama ink painting style landscape bringing  the bowl to life in one's hands. 

One other feature is that this chawan was thrown out of a coarser Shino/ mogusa clay than normally seen though I have seen this clay on other pots I have encountered. The clay is a bit looser and softer in appearance and has a decidedly different texture overall compared to the clay that one thinks of coming from the studio of Tsukigata Nahiko.  My conclusions after handling this chawan are simple;  this is likely the most traditional Shino chawan by the potter that you will encounter but despite that fact it is so clearly by Tsukigata that among other simple (?) Shino chawan, this bowl stands out, distinct among the crowd. 

NO ORDER TOO SMALL

Illustrated is a commission, a single solitary covered serving bowl with lid and knob. That being said, I did make a second set as a spare I just didn't think two looked as solitary as the single piece and parts. Over the years I have made a lot of single pieces as orders or commisions and would like to think no order too small and this small version of a covered serving bowl is a good example though. Along with the csb I have been asked to make two matching, meoto style tea cups and generally speaking, I am very happy for the interest and excuse to throw. This covered jar will set up over night, get trimmed, have the knob attached to the lid and once dry, it will get decorated and later glazed and fired. The spare is to insure everything goes well along the process like not rushing things and blowing up pots in the bisque all the way to having pots overglazed and becoming one with the shelf. Even for such small orders while relying on potentially runny glazes, my motto remains the same; better safe than sorry.

REDUNDANT

I apologize if this seems a bit redundant as I have posted a detail picture and a Youtube video of this vase previously but this photo has been hanging out on the hard drive and I suspect there are details to be seen due to how this was photographed. This Shigaraki take-gata hanaire was made by Furutani Michio and is just a classic example of his firing and the manner in which he handled clay; considered, direct and simple. Aside from the running, cascading ash on the piece I am enamored with the way the area about the cut out has gracefully slumped a bit as it lacked the support it may have wished for during the firing. To my eye this adds to the casual appearance of the vessel, equipted for everyday use or in the tokonoma during chanoyu, it pocesses a nobility in its simplicity. It is easy to wax poetic in regards to the Iga and Shigaraki works of Furutani Michio as in fact many of his pots embody that sense of the lyrical fired deep into the bones of the clay.

SHOCHU-CHOKU

According to Wikipedia and other internet sources, the best way to describe Shochu is is that it has about 25% alcohol by volume and it is usually distilled from "rice, barley, seet potatoes, buckwheat or brown sugar" although there are exceptions to include other japanese indiginous vegetation. As with most drinks, Shochu can be served all by its lonesome or on the rocks, with water (hot and cold), mixed or with beer added as well. Though I have had shochu a couple of times in japan, this is the extent of my knowledge about this beverage and please pardon any faux pass in desribing this especially to those who are seasoned aficionados.  At any rate, the reason for this slight background is that I recently acquired my, well our very first Shochu-choku and from my perspective it was a very good starting point.      

Illustrated is a rather robust T'ang sancai style choku by Kato Kiyokazu who has dedication himself to working within this sancai and T'ang styles using elegant, streamlined forms and truly wonderful, luminous colors over a very, very pale clear glaze with a hint of yellow. His use of amber, purples,  blue and bright green breath life into his pots and create a rather visually stunning surface which is a bit further enhanced by your friend and mine, the Sun. One of the other features of note is the rather natural use of pigments where though they are obviously applied they present a more organic appearance, for me nothing ruins a sancai style pot faster than ill applied or ill conceived use of decoration/ pigments. The form of this cup is just ideal for the decoration and considering my interest in T'ang ceramics and sancai wares goes all the way back to the BMFA, the Met and CMA, ending up with a classic sancai choku by Kato Kiyokazu makes for a perfect little pot that I may just have to give a test run though likely not with shochu any time soon.

JUN THE GLAZE

Just so there is no confusion, this is about a glaze not a cat (Jun-Yao) though he was named after the glaze because of his wondrous eye color, so in a way it is also about a cat at least in my mind. That being said, way back to our early days of visiting the BMFA, CMA and the Met, one thing that never failed to get our attention was the various Chinese pots with Jun-yao surfaces, known as one of the five great kilns of the Song Dynasty. Considering the sheer rarity and expense of really good Jun ware we turned our attention to Japanese pottery made in the Chinese taste, also known as Kinyo and one potter who was of instant interest was Miyashita Zenju (1901-1968), father of Showa/ Heisei stand-out Miyashita Zenji.  Zenju had a varied if not somewhat short career spending  time in China and Korea perfecting his interest in varying archetypes and glaze surfaces, studied with Kawamura seizan and Kusube Yaichi along the way  before setting up his studio in Kyoto where he became a key figure in the pottery movement and aethetic circles of the day.     

Illustrated is a classic guinomi created in a hybrid of Chinese and Japanese taste with a surface that harkens back to the Song Dynasty where the rich, active and captivating surface texture could be as intoxicating as the intended beverage of which it would serve. The thin, lip is a wonderful contrast to the multi-colored glaze that is fluent in a number of hues that surround the interior pond of soft, robin egg's blue making for a perfect focal point. Neither too large nor too small, this Miyashita Zenju guinomi has a rather inviting form and bearing, is easy to pick up due to the slight indent just under the lip and is certainly effortless in its filling and use with an eye toward function and beauty, the potter has made all the right decisions.

BRIGHT GOLDEN AMBER

Way back when I started out doing slipware, my first glazes that I used were amber, copper and a steel blue over various slip work. As I began to focus more and more on black and white slips as the basis of the work I turned to using a clear glaze almost exclusively but from time to time I would still go back to the bright golden amber that I had developed (from an existing glaze) sometimes with copper or manganese purple accents. This bowl was a left over and is now in our kitchen from a group of dinner plates, low, wide soup bowls and "catch-all" bowls exactly like this one. The slip was applied and then dabbed over the surface to create this pattern which is also easy enough to replicate over the 18 pieces needed and the four pieces that are left over for our use. The glaze is rather durable for terra cotta and runs from this bright surface to a slightly duller amber depending on the light and looks good over various styles of slip decoration. Added to what is seen it can always benefit from a bit of copper or manganese to spice things up even more though, sometimes simple is just what is called for.

"Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things."  Sir Isaac Newton 

CLEAR IMPRESSION

Illustrated is another classic Honiwa Rakunyu II Shigaraki chaire, this one being a presentation piece. Complete with two shifuku for differing tea outings or seasons, the box is made to fit the extra bag with chaire "dummy" inside as well as the actual chaire in its decorative bag. Like most of his chaire, this is finely, even exquisitely thrown, slightly thin out of a white stoneware which makes for the perfect canvas for the ash developement which is carefully painted by flame to show off ash build up on the shoulder and face, just the right amount, transitional borders of color wrapping around to the rear showing off some hi-iro. As I mentioned this chaire is rather characteristic of Honiwa as is the firing which is meant to strike a balance between subtlety and tradition, where the process is clearly written across the surface.    

I should mention that the photo of this chawan, box and two shifuku was taken by the owner and honestly I think it provides a rather clear impression of exactly what this set looks like in person so I decided to go with this rather than thinking I could improve upon it. You can see more of this Shigaraki chaire by following this link and going over to my trocadero marketplace;

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1494436/HONIWA-RAKUNYU-II-SHIGARAKI-PRESENTATION-CHAIRE-TWO-SHIFUKU

GROWING LIST

Though I have been a bit bogged down in throwing and decorating terra cotta I have been accumulating both stoneware and porcelain pieces thrown at the end of the day with no idea as to potential scheduling of completetion. Working and building up pots is a rather common thing here with pots sometimes hanging around for two months or so in the green stage as more occasional pieces are added to the growing list.Though at this moment I have no idea when I will get to the 40+ or so pieces, I took sometime this afternoon and decorated a few of them using black and white backgrounds and wax resist. At the moment the glazing thought process is to use the soda blue, amber and Oribe to highlight the surfaces and pieces but anything and everything is subject to change.     

The illustrated covered jar with small finial is thrown out of stoneware and is likely to be glazed in the soda blue. The form is rather simple, streamlined with a notched foot, applied knob and a decoration the compliments the pot and should be just the right amount of contrast to add movement once glaze fired. Of course working with a runny glaze on a straight-sided pot can certainly spice up the dynamic but I will wad the lid and fire it with the feet resting on small slivers of soft brick, what's the worst that can happen?

BLACK & BLUE

Illustrated is a Kuro-Bizen guinomi by Oiwa Tomoyuki who apprenticed under Kakurezaki Ryuichi and his influence is rather clear. This guinomi is of a generous size and the rather interesting and engaging form which has a rather evocative surface and despite its name, there is quite a bit of blue encasing this diminutive pot. Perhaps what attrects me the most to the piece is the hap-hazard and casual way it was thrown, moving clay, distorting the lip and waist in the process but  the foot is crisp and sharply cut, I like that contridiction. For being such a small piece, this Bizen guinomi is filled with little details and features that make a rather pleasing presentation and though it has not been used, it has a nice, warm tactile feel that works well in my hand and my wife's and she is considerably smaller than me. All in all a nice balanced package that shows equal part of Oiwa Tomoyuki, his master and centuries of tradition all wrapped up in 6 x 6.5 centimeters.