1968

Last week I put up a blog post regarding a new, old book that I had recently received by Kuroda Ryoji published in 1968 and put up a picture of a somewhat early kinuta vase by Tsukigata Nahiko showing where his work stood at about that time. I mentioned that the front of the book had a handful of color plates representing the various artists which also included a photo of a rather early Oni-Shino vase by Tsukigata that would likely have to date from 1966 or 1967 showing how far along this style already was at that time period. The key to these pieces and what distinguished Tsukigata from his contemporaries is his use of thick iron in conjuction with the Shino glazes he used which was then subjected to an intense wood firing in an anagama style kiln in which he altered the woods and schedule of his firings. I should remark that another key feature that distinguishes him from other potters is the unique set of forms that he settled on early on in his career which he would alter and improve upon over his lifetime. These varying forms differ from his master, Arakawa Toyozo and draw on but are not wholly based on the aesthetics of the Momoyama era making Tsukigata a man of his times, modern and feudal all wrapped together in a variety of unique surfaces that saw they started in the 1960s as can be clearly seen in this illustration from 1968.

A HANDFUL OF CLAY AND SOME ASH

I liked this chawan as soon as I saw it, boiled down it is just a handful of clay and some ash for the glaze. Making pottery really doesn't get much simpler or elemental than this, a potter, in this case Mizuno Takuzo throws a bowl he has thrown a thousand times before and adds an angular texture to the clay and pushes out from the interior creating fractures and fissures on the exterior. Later on and once bisque, the chawan is glazed in an ash glaze that Mizuno has used for several decades which once fired creates a wonderful surface for his pottery, accentuating every line, crack, dipple, fissure and highpoint on the pot taking this simple glaze and giving it depth, complexity and an ability to communicate with the viewer/ user. I am perpetually drawn to a pot that speaks of function while spinning a tale of it making and aesthetic choices that stem from years of making simple pots that are so much more when you are willing to stop and listen to what the clay has to say.

VIRIDI PATERA

Illustrated is a white slipped and carved bamboo form teabowl with a rich Oribe style glaze, like most of my teabowls it is on the large size and up to the task for whatever one wants to use it for. I was especially pleased with how dark the incised decoration is and also with the horizontal rings that run around the form at top, middle and bottom of the bowl adding a nice dimension and accentuating the form. As you look at this glaze there are very nice accents that run down, through the surface including areas that turn a rich amber color from iron applied the bowl and the way that the Oribe breaks to an almost clear around some of the incised marks while creating intense green areas as it runs off and around the carving is also quite pleasing. Given all of the variables and subtlties, I just don't see myself getting tired with these greens, I just keep pushing and testing and the possibilities just seem endless.

"If you don't know what makes green, you're going to try every color combination." Alison Krauss

VADE MECUM

 

I have a real love for books, in our last move from Virginia to central NY State we moved literally tons of books on a wide array of subject matter but certainly pottery is one of the main focuses. I really love finding books on Japanese pottery from the 50's and 60s which I am constantly on the look out for. Recently I found one on pottery by the 100 leading chadogu makers, published in 1968 and selected and written by acknowledged pottery expert and found of Kuroda Toen, Kuroda Ryoji. Though there are usually a handful of color photos at the beginning of this type of book, the majority of photos, signatures and seals are all in B/W which makes for good crisp photos and honestly a treasure trove of information. Many of the greats from the post-war era are highlighted in the book from well established potters to a group of up and coming  and there is also a three page spread on Tsukigata Nahiko which is one of the earliest references I have for him in my library. I am guessing that since the book was published in 1968 it was written and researched from 1966 through 1967 and I would further assume that Tsukigata was already a well known potter and on his way to perfecting his Oni-Shino style.

Illustrated next to the book cover is a kinuta mallet vase glazed in Shino glaze that has a certain aggressive quality to it and though not Oni-Shino, this glaze quality represents a clear departure from that of Arakawa Toyozo though the wonderful proportions of the  vase were quite well learned from the master and show a style and form that becomes quite distinctly Tsukigata's own in only a few years from when this piece was made.  There are a number of Tsukigata mallet vases on my blog so you can compare this one to latter ones and there is another, very early piece which was made in 1967 so it is easy to see the pace at which he was moving toward his more signature style. It is great to find books like this, they are exceedingly useful at piecing together the chronology of a potter's work and having a clearer picture of avenues that they pursued, some to folly and others to fame.

UNRESTRAINED

I've been around pottery and potters long enough that I can tell you what makes a good pot and a good potter and one characteristic that is shared is that sense of pushing the form and surface right to the edge and not crossing that line, the creation of a piece that is just right. One of the things that I have realized about my time making pots is that I have a seemingly genetic marker for being a bit unrestrained, in other words generally I get right up to that edge and then take a good flying leap beyond it. Illustrated is a 2vue shot of a teabowl I recently glazed and fired using my new nuka oatmeal ash glaze, NOA-3 for short, as you can see there is nothing subtle about the piece with a black slip under the glaze and two iron glazes over the surface to create a rather abstract decorated surface. Though I doubt one can tell, there is a pattern which roams around the bowl three times in the darker iron glaze with areas of the yellow iron being put randomly about the surface, I realize it is a bit chaotic but I love the frentic energy of decorating this way and in how the pieces turn out. Though there is some method to the madness, the way the glazes are brushed on without the ability to see where the slips are underneath makes for a certain degree of random chance to dictate how the final piece will turn out and that is where I am most happy.

"Random chance plays a huge part in everybody's life." Gary Gygax

ON MEMORIAL DAY

I realize this is an often and over used quote but I think it meets the deep rooted sentiment of our collective experiences.

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."  Martin Luther King Jr.

EQUAL TIME

I was recently reminded yet again that my blog is rather biased to which I admit, that is absolutely true. The bias stems from my personal taste and experiences and quite frankly there is nothing wrong with that, after all it is my rambling blog about both potters and pots. The person who leveled the claim is a collector of almost exclusively Bizen potter, no bias in that so in an attempt to give equal time to other types, I thought I would show this rather nice Ko-Mino hanaire and what is not to like? This vase is by Mino specialist Ando Hidetake was fired  in his wood kiln and where ash has landed it has made a drier, straw yellow surface reminiscent of Ki-Seto pottery though he is rather particular in naming these works Ko-Mino despite the areas at the shoulder, neck and mouth that I would classify as aburage style. Tall and well thrown, the deeply incised lines accentuate the vertical nature of the vase and add a subtle twist to the form that sets it in motion while the ash and glaze moving down the surface is rather visually appealing. Ando was raised in a pottery family before apprenticing under Kato Tokuro so the study and tradition of the Mino area is in his blood and comes quite naturally to him as is evidenced in this expressive hanaire just waiting on flowers and its placement in the a tea house tokonoma or on a shelf in one's home. I may be biased in what I like, but it is the individuals addition to his craft and personal vision that interests me and less so where they were made or from what tradition they sprang and I am convinced that this applies to a pioneer like Ando Hidetake.

"It is better to create than to learn; creating is the essence of life."  Julius Caesar

JEEZ, WHAT A PAIR

Illustrated is a pair of Shigaraki tanuki kogo by Furutani Michio. Both were hand modeled and then cut open and hollowed out and though they look similar, the differences are obvious making each piece quite unique from the details of the tanuki physicality to the attributes from the wood firing. The tanuki on the right was a gift from Furutani-san on our first visit to his studio and holds a very dear spot in our memories, the kogo on the left was found on the web somewhere and was made in the same year as the other one. Happenstance, serendipity, who knows but I do know they make quite the charming couple.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

I few months back I made a hand full of inlaid slip teabowls and a few other pieces and apparently this bowl was overlooked at the time and just put up on a shelf, out of sight out of mind. While looking for a pair of yunomi that a customer wanted, I noticed this bowl again and realized it looked a bit different than the other pieces. As you will notice there is an inlaid slip pattern but what really catches the eye is the diagonal pattern that goes around the bowl where the slip pattern is. Unlike the other pieces using other glazes, this one used a recent Oribe that high lights the rythmic undulations that appear like waves moving around the bowl. These inlaid pieces were first slip and once set up and firm, I used a broad, slightly curved tool to cut off the excess and reveal the slip pattern which created slight diagonal furrows that are certainly accentuated by this oribe glaze. This was neither devised or planned but rather is an  welcome unintended consequence of the process that I have absolutlely no problem living with adding to the teabowl both in the hand or just hanging about on a shelf.

UNCOMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP

Unfettered and simple are certainly varying ways to describe this serene Iga chawan by Sugimoto Sadamitsu. The simple, high sided teabowl tapers little from bottom to top and is crowned with a lip that undulates and moves just enough to give it a weathered and natural appearance as if worn down by the ferocity and velocity of the firing. The surface paints a subtle mural like a Momoyama ink painting across the piece which is high lighted on the very face with an area puncuated with green ash while the area at the base to the foot creates a wonderful shadowline of negative space. About as feudal looking as they come, Sugimoto has created a bowl full of complex subtlties with everything extra cast aside to present a chawan full of dialogue in a lasting and uncomplicated relationship with the viewer.