IRON MUGS

I really like this kaki glaze that is on this pair of lobed iron glazed mugs and have been using it since the mid-90s. It is rich and active and breaks well on lines and sharp accents. It really is a glaze that can be used all by itself on a well thought out pot and is rather dependable to boot. The close-up shows the active crystalline structure of the surface and the mugs look different from every vantage point and in differing lighting. I honestly can not for the life of me remember where I got this glaze but I suspect I owe someone a hearty thank you; I'll be thinking about that person next time I am having a cup of tea!

CONUNDRUM

The chawan illustrated is from an old Tsukigata Nahiko catalogue, it is Oni-Shino though somewhat dark and ominous and punctuated by the bold kintsugi repair now holding the bowl together in bold and perfect imperfection. I have often looked at this illustration and the conundrum it poses; what it was about this particular chawan that made Tsukigata go through the herculean effort to salvage and repair the pot? I have seen a number of pictures where he is purposely breaking pots with a hammer so his typical sense of "quality control" seems to have eluded this bowl, the question still remains, what is it about this chawan that he felt compelled to save and re-envision the pot. I doubt I will ever get a thoroughly satisfying answer but every now and again I go back and study the photo with an eye to understand how this pot stood apart from others that found their way in to a pile of shards.

JUST A BOWL

Illustrated is an ovaled and lobed serving bowl with pulled handles opposite each other that aid both visually and functional. Using a Shino slip that I got somewhere along the way and an accent of black glaze around the top half of the bowl, this pot is typical of serving pieces I like to make now and again where I try to strip the pot to the fundamentals and let the form and minimal decoration tell the story. The close-up shows the richness of the flashed orange surface together with the deep, wet accents of the iron glaze. I like pots like this, thrown, pushed just a bit oval and then lobed and notched though never hiding the fact that the piece started out round on a potter's wheel.  It is a simple piece to my eye, after all, it is just a bowl, one of many.

ANY GIVEN BLUE MONDAY

I have had this detail shot on my computer for a while now and thought to use it on any given blue Monday and thought today was that day. Illustrated is a close-up of a large and award winning henko vase by the multi-talented Morino Taimei (b.1934). This vivid detail shot gives and insight in to the complexity of the glaze surface that was exactingly planned out but the artist allowed room for the surface to soften and move ever so slightly to create a more naturalistic design. There is a crystal effervescence to the surface where layered and resisted glazes work with each out with underlying glaze bubbling through each other. There is a wonderful balance of complexity and simplicity to the surface that when viewed as a whole creates a vivid, timeless and contemplative vessel that few can create and which Morino excels at. It is little wonder that this piece was singled out for award among a broad array of pottery at the 1993 Nikko-kai exhibition.

The original post with the full pot illustrated can be seen here;

http://albedo3studio.blogspot.com/2013/03/blue-monday-x.html

ADDED TOUCH

A friend sent me a file filled with Japanese pottery pictures the other day and in it were two pictures of the same chawan that I put together as a single photo. Illustrated is a E-Shino chawan by Hayashi Kotaro (1940-1981), brother and mentor of Hayashi Shotaro and one of the original post-war Mino stand outs. His work is clearly and firmly rooted in the Momoyama revivalist mode and though conservative, it is both fresh and invigorating. The surface and painting are just right for this generous bowl which is accompanied by an added touch of a thoughtful and considerate potter; a wrapping cloth with both painted image and signature to help protect the bowl. There are a number of potters who provided painted or elaborately signed cloths and shikishi (even kakejiku) with some of their best and exhibition pieces and others who do so on the request of a patron or collector or just on a whim. Either way the added touch goes a long way to tell the viewer, "I care about this pot and hopefully, you will as well".

TWO SIMPLE CUTS

Each and every chawan dictates what type of kodai that is appropriate to finish off the piece. When it comes to kodai, it is the less is more style that impresses, no muss, no fuss and the finished foot is fresh, casual and spontaneous. That being said, I love a strong yet casual pot with a casual kodai that looks like it was cut in two simple cuts and in the case of this Suzuki Goro kodai, that is exactly the case. Using a broken off piece of wood, shaped like a chisel, the fist cut goes around the outside of the foot to define it and the interior cut flows quickly removing the excess clay to finish the kodai. This photo is a screen capture from a DVD on Suzuki Goro and the whole process is fast, bold and an exercise in total commitment. The end result is a kodai that matches well with the bowl shape and is probably the result of 50+ years of making thousands of chawan; at some point one is bound to get the knack of it.

CONTRASTING TEXTURES

Illustrated is a close up of a kaki glazed molded octagonal tray form with accents of Kawai green and a chun like nuka glaze. I have used this combination over the years and the surface is rarely ever the same with contrasting textures that vary just a small amount to wildly. In this piece there is a nice amount of visual and tactile contrast making for a fun to use piece.

DREAM

Illustrated is a bold sometsuke plate by eccentric calligrapher, painter, potter, lacquer artist and exploiter of various other mediums; Sato Katsuhiko. Painted in rich, deep cobalt gosu, the porcelain plate was provided and Sato created a dreamy kanji, yume which means dream. Considering his background, his ability to merge 2-D and 3-D is nothing short of impressive but it is the wide array of works, styles, imagery and eccentricity that makes the works of Sato Katsuhiko so impressive and dynamic.

TETSU-SHINO

I put together this slideshow of a rather unusual and maybe even rare chawan by Kumano Kuroemon. The chawan is quite large and very rich in its presentation and is described as Tetsu-Shino, Iron Shino. The surface is a mixture of iron and Shino with a nice amount of natural ash to help activate the bowl which has created a bold and masculine appearance with a rather unique feudal keshiki. I have seen a few pots in this style, but this piece seems to be far more eloquent in its presentation than most and despite the dark and dramatic surface, it is a focused and contemplative piece that has a great deal to share. Large, complex and dynamic, this is Kumano at his best.

CIRCA 1973

A friend sent me a group of catalogues recently and in the package was two catalogues on Tsukigata Nahiko from 1973. 1973 was the first year that Tsukigata exhibited his new Oni-Shino and quite frankly it is amazing how far developed the style was considering I have seen pots from 1969 and 1971 that don't even hint at this revolutionary style. The illustration is of a Oni-Shino from one of the catalogues and is a form that he used for most of his career. Low and broad this mimi-tsuki Oni-Shino mizusashi has the quintessential Oni-Shino glaze that Tsukigata is known for and the piece has a complimentary lid with a generous knob to ensure a good grip by collector or tea master. Like many of his pots, there is an enigmatic air to the piece that is well balanced with certain aspects of Momoyama revival classicism that in many respects defines the work of Tsukigata over his career of nearly six decades.