A-OKAY

I unloaded the bisque the other day and got a number of pots out that I had my fingers crossed on including a coarse slip and textured and thrown bowls in stoneware and porcelain. Now there is nothing all that complex about the technique and process but what I have found is that on occasion, porcelain and sometimes white stoneware pieces thrown and widely expanded with this heavier texture look fine until they come out of the bisque where if they are going to have cracked (hairlines) this is most likely when it will occur. I quickly checked the stoneware pieces except the covered jars which did not get into the bisque and then turned my attention to the porcelain bowls. Using a 10X magnifier, I gave each bowl a quick go around and then a second to confirm that all is a okay. I am rerunning my old amber glaze(s) in the next kiln firing so I will wait on glazing these before I move forward. I could always glaze everything in green but I am reminded, diversity is the axis of our world.

PARAGON

Perhaps a bit like a wandering solitary samurai, I really love the brooding, dark and complex nature of this yohen style Hagi chawan which exudes character and carries itself with its own defined purpose like a modern paragon. This chawan was dug out of a hunk of clay, kuriniku style as if the form had been in the earth since long before it was pulled from the earth to end up this form filled with motion and a posture that is exceptionally enticing. Created, glazed and fired by Kaneta Masanao the glaze surface is the result of years of experience where a careful and wild blend of Hagi glaze, ash, intense heat and the atmosphere conspired to create this gem of a chawan that certainly means as much in the hand as it does to the eye. The combination of the bones of the pot and the melting glaze makes for a dramatic and coordinated dance of movement, animated through their combination and now locked away in a visual struggle until such a time as the molecules and atoms of the piece drift away and the bowl is no more. I can say that though I have seen quite a number of Kaneta Masanao's chawan of all shapes , sizes and styles few are as evocative and prescient regarding the future of Hagi and all of the vast possibilities locked away inside the DNA and clay of those that work within the tradition. 

ALL'S WELL

Not that it really matters, this was our first seamail, Japan Surface post pot after EMS shuttered its doors during the pandemic. No sooner did we purchase this pot did everything shipping related get a bit more complicated so we made the insane choice to have the covered box shipped, very well packed by seamail while we waited for its arrival over three months later . But arrive it did and in perfect condition with the bottom well packed in the wood box and the lid packed outside for its grand tour across the Pacific so as they say; "all's well that ends well".      

Made by Yamato Yasuo back in the 1980s this Hagi futamono appears rather beige under some light and this well tempered blushed pink under others with areas of streaking showing white tones across the surface. The crisp edges and faceted top have a definite visual sharpness to them as well as in actuality asked to be handled carefully and with just the right amount of deference and respect. Despite the coloration their is a quality of strength and purpose to this covered box which is just large enough to accommodate a wide array of things from sweets and pastries to documents and tools of various trades. What captivates me the most is that there is nothing unnecessary added to the pot it relies on its strong and simple form and carefully applied glaze acting in unison to present its clarity and classical restraint, I would expect nothing less from this potter.

GRAIN BIN

I have been keeping up with making some slipware stoneware pots and I made this small, simple covered box based on the old grain bin forms. This pot was thrown, tooled and then black slipped with added bands of combed white slip slightly reminiscent of Old English Slipware. As you can see, the form balances on three feet which adds a sense of tension to the overall presentation and under the right conditions creates a rather intriguing shadow line. I would like to think that this form and surface plays well with the sunlight and shadow where subtle details pop out where the combing marks seem alive and the glaze runs just enough to animate the finial and the junction where lid and body of the form meet. Beyond the pot I am rather pleased by the shadow cast by this simple covered box form and its finial blending the two and three dimensions in a pleasing unison.

IGA SLIPWARE

Illustrated is a slightly different Iga chawan by Kojima Kenji made early on in his career that combines elements of several traditions. Having a low profile and wonky lip this bowl sits on a sturdy classic Kojima kodai but what sets it apart is the after the chawan was thrown, he applied a thick coat of hakeme slip around the mouth and upper exterior of the pot. As you can see in the image the white slip creates a perfect backdrop for the built up and running ash giving it a bright, almost luminous quality that makes for a different aesthetic than Kojima's normal Iga visuals. The creation of this Iga slipware using slip on this broad piece creates a rather pleasing bowl that is careful to keep both function and the wood fired philosophy in equal measures. Since I have never used this chawan I can't speak to its use but what I can say is that the bowl has an ideal shape, the foot and shallow bowl form fits the contours of my hand(s) quite well and has just the right weight despite being made to withstand the ardors of the somewhat violent firing process. Though this is an earlier work it remains clear that Kojima Kenji's attention has been focused on understanding and defining the tradition, the clay and the firing process to get the very most out of each and every shovelful of a clay that spans over a thousand years of use.

 

CONTINUUM

There are times these days when looking at older, more traditional and classic pots where they seem out of step from the movements of sculptural and modern ceramics being made these days. The truth is that while I appreciate the movement forward, there is a special place for the modern past, the 20th Century in my heart the old forges the continuum between what was and what will be. Pots based on traditions, traditional forms and classical ideals appeal to me, their embrace of their history, functional and purpose is written across their surface appealing to a simpler aesthetic and perhaps time, ultimately the past births the new.      

This classic te-oke was made by Nishibata Sueharu, father of Tadashi and is as antique as can be in appearance, finding its origins in ceramic and perhaps wooden archetypes passed down over the centuries including within the Tamba tradition. Created to imitate its wood cousin, the form intimates wood slats and woven bamboo bindings with the big distinguishing factor being the presence of running and dripping ash and hi-iro flashing around the form. A feature that is immediately spotted is the thick bidoro drips attached to the underside of the bucket's handle, hanging precariously and locked in their present state until time or calamity see fit to alter them. It may sound redundant, but I like traditional pots, ideals built on centuries of use and ceremony that keep one eye to tradition and utility and the other to aesthetics and pleasing the user in both arenas.

EXPANDED

I am trying to finish up making pots to fill a kiln with a few orders, commissions and some tests and needed to make a handful of filler pots so I resurrected a technique i first used back in 1990. While attending NCECA I noticed a neat covered jar on the trade table and sought out the maker who I can not for the life of my remember his name though he was an educator from Utah. Since this was long before Youtube I ask him about the technique and here is how it was explained; first throw a thick, narrow cylinder, then using a toothed rib drag it up the surface to create a myriad of straight channels, next expand the form to the desired shape/ form. Though it sounded easy enough, I worked on the technique of expanding without wrecking the pieces once I got back to Cleveland and over an afternoon figured out the basics. This may not seem revolutionary but the dissemination of ideas and techniques was a bit slower in 1990 with Ceramics Monthly being on of the few publications showcasing things as they happened. Flash forward to Wednesday and I know have these two teabowls and a small covered jar tooled and waiting for a bisque firing. Though it may come as no surprise i am likely to glaze these in my Oribe or Kuro-Oribe glazes unless I decide to make a small batch of my old amber glaze though I am feeling a bit lazy.

MEMORY LANE

Though decidedly not pottery related seeing this small wood Dharuma, seen all over Japan, never fails to bring me on a journey down memory lane. On one of our trips to Japan we planned it so that we would be in the Kyoto area to take advantages of two large flea markets on successive weekends. On the first weekend we found ourselves at the small table of a woman who was easily in her 80s and we purchased a small itto-bori figure and when we got to our hotel room she had wrapped up this very cute itto-bori style carved Dharuma in our package. A week later we ran in to her again where she called us over and after thanking her for the gift, she had another very nice itto-bori carved dragon which we purchased and this time, she gifted us the smallest wood carved geta with two kokeshi dolls attached to it. Two years later we ran into her again, she was all smiles and showed us a carved wood tonkotsu inro dated 1844 which we purchased and she added an old Edo period lacquer netsuke to go along with the carved dragon and tigers on the piece. That was the last time we saw her though friends of ours several years later saw her and mentioned us, apparently she had a bid smile and every time I look at this little carved piece, I have a big smile as well.

DAILY MASTERWORK

The description for this chawan is about as simple as they come, TETSU-YU CHAWAN, iron glazed teabowl and that is rather appropriate for a bowl that isn't cluttered with superfluous detail and gets right to the point. This iron glazed wan-gata style chawan was made by Kimura Morinobu and is in many respects a quintessential example of his pottery which at all levels strives for a simple aesthetic that is packed with purpose and use. As you can see the bowl was thrown and left unaltered as it came off the wheel where the rounded and practical shape sits quietly on a small, raised foot that is both complimentary and stable for the form. The glaze its self is a varity of iron hues and possibilities filled with small crystal punctuations and the occassional white to clearish interjections adding a bit more to this monochrome landscape. It may seem a bit hyperbolic, but this is just a classic and near perfect chawan that is easy on the eye and ideal for its intended function whether for use in chanoyu or to serve as an everyday reminder of the beauty of pottery.        

Perhaps as a testament to the quality of this tetsu-yu chawan, this bowl is illustrated in a book entitled; KIMURA MORINOBU 50 Years of Work 1951 -2000. Published in 2000, the book is broken up into four sections outlining the diversity of his forms and glazes, many of which are based on ash which he burns and processes himself. One overarching theme is the conscious simplicity of much of the work with one eye to function and one to an creativity that pays some homage to the varying Kyoto aesthetics. I should mention the illustration does not really adequately portray the chawan as it appears in person where the fullness of form and the bright and glimmering surface have a quality of comforting quietness and perpetual contemplation. Of all the work that I have seen and handled by Kimura Morinobu I don't think I am going to far out on a limb to say this is likely one of my favorite pots by him that seems to embody the vision and aesthetic of the potter where just working, dedicated to his craft was more than enough to create those moments of daily masterworks and studied simplicity.

SWEET DREAMS

I recently put up an older fluted Oribe teabowls on Instagram and it got me thinking of perhaps the oddest pot that I have ever made. Well to be clear, I have made pots that would certainly classify as odder but rather it is the purpose that I found a bit out of the usual. This Oribe covered jar was made as an homage to a Sukhothai style temple, not my design as the final resting place for a Thai giant rat, rescued from the fur trade and raised as a house pet. I can't remember the name of the rat, I just referred to it as "biggie" after the rapper, Biggie Smalls. As for this jar, it was thrown thick and had the horizontal fluting tooled into the surface and was glazed in my very first Oribe glaze back in the 1990s. Perhaps the neatest feature was where the Oribe glaze pooled in the furrows creating rich, dark bands around the pot which became darker and darker as it ran down the pot. Once "biggie" was cremated, he (?) was placed inside the jar in a plastic bag, just barely fitting and the lid was sealed on the pot using thick sealing wax. Though I have made a number of special commission pots over the years, the final resting place for the large rodent ranks as perhaps the oddest thing I have made, sweet dreams "biggie".