QUEST

I suspect there are a number of collectors who are unaware there is a very neat book on Tamaoki Yasuo entitled; I AM ORIBE. Though this book is well illustrated with varying types of pottery that Tamaoki pursues, there are also a number of his Oribe pieces, both semi-tradition and much more modern like the one illustrated here. Using a somewhat limited palette of black, white, coral, greys and greens, Tamaoki has come up with a rich and engaging style, playful at its core but flirting with modernity with each creation. Many of these Oribe pieces use his “basic” forms as their canvas but that is where the commonality ends, his selection of space both positive and negative and random floating forms or devices hover of whites and coral rich backdrops making for the perfect backdrop, an abstract canvas folded like origami into three dimensions. 

If you have followed the work of Tamaoki Yasuo it was clear all the way back to his roots in the 70s and 80s that he was on a pathway of dedication and discovery. Plumbing the depth of what is Mino pottery and what novel approaches can be added the wide array of a living and moving tradition is at the heart of this potter’s work and this Oribe work is part of that quest. 

BORN TO RUN

When it comes to hand building, I am never quite sure how I got there or honestly exactly what I am doing. In my mind I had this idea that would play on the fact that some of my glaze surfaces run quite a bit, born to run if you will and, in this case, the piece sprung up from that central theme and decoration. Obviously, slab-built, out of stoneware, the main goal was the creation of a form that then had diagonal channels carved into it to allow the glaze to collect and run as it most certainly did. In this instance, the pot was glazed in my Kuro-Oribe surface though only the top two thirds, the bottom third was straight Oribe. Had I decided to go all in with Kuro-Oribe even the simple fact that this was fired on wads, placed on soft brick slabs, one inch thick, I suspect the pot would be a permanent resident of the shelf on which it was fired. 

As you can see, the glaze collected just as planned and ran down so precariously close to the base that as the kiln was colling, I still thought that I had a disaster on hand. Once cool enough, I picked it up and it came along without any issues. My general working process does not usually begin or revolve around an intended occurrence but in this case, how I wanted the glaze to respond and behave certainly was the genesis for the slab-built pot and likely not the best way to proceed in the future.

BIZAN-GAMA

I can’t really say I know a lot about the maker of this wood fired mizusashi but over the years I have seen a number of his pieces with a wide variety of surfaces and effects. Made by Oki Yasushi (b. 1948) of the Bizan-gama kiln at the foot of Mt. Koya in Kami-Amano, he has had a working studio since the early 1970s which he set up after studying in San Jose, California.       

As you may be able to tell, Oki specializes in yakishime, shizenyu style pottery relying on the wood, fire and kiln to complete the pot through its own distinctive process. This cylindrical mizusashi has an ancient feel to it like it has spirited away elements of Kofun and Sueki pottery and infused them into modern clay. The only potter’s decoration on this piece are several incised bands around the bottom half of the pot which in conjunction with the all-natural running ash is more than enough to present a rustic and simple aesthetic perfect for the tea ceremony or adorning one’s shelf or desk and an object of contemplation.  

Though this particular pot is in a typical, signed wood box many of the pieces of Oki Yasushi are adorned with quick, abstract drawing of the contents within. This is just another thoughtful feature and detail to go along with such an elementary clay vessel, steeped in history and tradition with a hint of the modern within its grasp.

SURPRISES

It is rather rare that I would collect a used koro, I have been burnt in the past, no pun intended regarding the overwhelming and sometimes offensive odor that is next to impossible to get rid of. I decided to take a chance on an obviously used koro recently, mostly because it is a less often encountered style by Yasuda Zenko, Kuro-Seiji (Black celadon). When the package arrived, I first set it in front of Khan, our first line of sensory defense and in mere seconds he moved on without interest, I opened the box and then unpacked the bubble-wrapped wood storage box, back to Khan and once again nothing. Feeling emboldened, I unpacked the wood box to find two distinct surprises, first off, the koro had almost zero scent, perhaps a lingering trace from years gone by but nothing of an issue whatsoever. The second surprise was that the lid is pure silver and weighs in at 57 grams and in spot value actual exceeds the cost of the koro in the first place.     

As for the Yasuda koro, it is rather traditional in form, resting on three feet, with an unglazed ring where the firing support went, the interior and exterior are glazed in the same manner presenting a somewhat dark and brooding appearance. I imagine the overall appearance is quite enhanced with wafting smoke coming through the three leaf like apertures, cut and then bent out of the lid with fine lines, delicately chased between each of the three leaves. Though not exactly a typical or traditional surface, what Yasuda Zenko created is rather modern expressive with a hint of an enduring Kyoto aesthetic, I think maybe I won’t scrap the lid after all(!).

 

BANDED & STAMPED

I fired two kilns last week and these banded and stamped Oribe pots were in the first firing. I made two sets to get one though both came out and the one set is now at its new owners. The idea was to make a set of teabowl and water jar for someone who had no intention of using it for tea and requested it in a more Western aesthetic. Both were thrown out of stoneware with pronounced banding around the forms before they were stamped with different but complementary stamps. The surfaces match and are just plain, old Oribe without any topical additions making for a rather crisp, clean look. There is nothing complicated here, straight forward throwing, tooling and glazing and most of the time, this is just what I prefer.

CRAZY

                             

                                  

There isn’t much I can say about this yohen temmoku style chawan other than what crazy pattern. The pattern is vivid, multi-colored with a sheen of gold across the surface which has its own topography which appeals to the touch and the eye. This chawan was made by Yamamoto Noriyuki, a potter I know almost nothing about, the pictures are a better narrator then I could be.

 You can see more of this chawan over on my Trocadero marketplace;

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1507990/WILD-YOHEN-CHAWAN-BY-YAMAMOTO-NORIYUKI

WATATSUMI

Illustrated is a rather generous and thoughtful gift that was sent to me some while back, sort of a thank you for helping out a new collector get their bearings, along with some basic translation help and hints as to what to avoid. This specific piece was sent to me because of my interest in texture as well as Ki-Seto glazing, made by Goto Hideki clearly his watatsumi guinomi has both in spades. This guinomi is a little on the large side and the visual and physical textures are both wonderfully complimentary to the evocative, twisted form. Considering our recent excursion into collecting guinomi, this was a very nice addition and let’s be perfectly honest, based on my usual choices in pottery, this little gem certainly stands out like a Godzilla in the Tokyo bay.

MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON

Way back when, at a time when clay, chemicals and energy were much cheaper, I would take and write a number of pottery styles on little slips of paper and then pick two out blindly. In one case I ended up picked “Greek kylix” and “renaissance majolica”, what I decided on was the body of an apothecary jar and the pedestal of the kylix and plus or minus, this is what I had come up with. Considering this was likely two decades ago, there are no photos of my previous crimes against pottery so last fall I started making a few of the pieces perched atop pedestals to see what I could end up with. 

This Oribe covered jar is one of the pieces I ended up making, made of stoneware out of two pieces, well three if you include the lid, the surface has an impasto decoration, moving around the surface at a diagonal in two bands around the form. Once bisque, I used my Kuro-Oribe glaze and well, the rest is pretty self-evident. Two traditions blended together to create this horizontal, raised covered pot, a little bit of Greece, a bit of Italia with a pinch of Japanese pottery and a momentary lapse of reason coalesced with the aid of some clay and heat.

TIL DEATH DO US PART

Illustrated is a quick picture of a most welcome marriage of a tokkuri and guinomi by Nishiura Takeshi. The guinomi is the new addition and was something I was actively looking for to pair up with the existing Echizen tokkuri, a not too novel concept adopted from a fellow collector in Europe. It would seem every tokkuri needs a guinomi or two and vice versa, in some respects this completes the other even though the chances they will be used are slim to none. The clay and surfaces of these two match quite well with hints of Nishiura’s somewhat unique hekishu-yu, blue sand technique and though I am on day one of glazing for two firings, I took a few minutes to catch this pair in the height of the afternoon’s sun. Though I really love this surface highlighted by the sun, this surface has tons to say whatever the light source may be, I am alive, I am Echizen and til death do us part are perhaps their strongest messages.

SAKE-WAN II

I am not sure at times the differences between coincidence, serendipity and kismet but recently after acquiring a raku guinomi, another one, slightly different popped up by the same potter. Made by Konishi Heinai II, the guinomi on the left is the newer acquisition, simply marked “red guinomi”, this like its partner in crime on the right both resemble miniature chawan which I often refer to as mini-wan. Despite being different surface, both have very similar sizes, forms and even weight which is a testament to a skill honed through repetition and decades of production. Perhaps the only real difference between these two pieces is the kodai and surfaces are a bit different and to my eye, they compliment each other rather well. I know I said this previously, I am not normally drawn to Raku/ raku potter with the exception of Raku Kichizaemon XV and Konishi Heinai II, one is in my price range and one is not, can you guess which is which?   

BTW, I should note I would love to use these for bourbon and not sake, but truthfully, I just don’t have the nerve!