WHAT A PAIR II

I received this (and quite a few other) picture(s) the other day from a shuki enthusiast in Europe. We have been trading back and forth pictures of various pots but mostly guinomi and tokkuri and this was his latest addition. When I first saw these two pieces together all I could truly think was 'what a pair", these pieces just work well together in form and surface and must be a joy to have just hanging around on a desktop. Both the Bizen tokkuri and guinomi were made by Oiwa Tomoyuki, a former apprentice of Kakurezaki Ryuichi and despite some of the obvious influences of the master, Oiwa has carved out a nice niche for himself where his voice, handling of clay and his firings have become rather distinctive.          

The tokkuri has a wonderfully sturdy form where the potter has tied in various details from the tapered foot, swelled out mid-section and faceted top culminating in a crisp and depressed shoulder that serves as a great foundation for the perfectly proportioned neck and mouth and death defying drip, front and center. As you can see, this tokkuri was fired on its side where the running ash has beaded up near the shell scars of the wadding creating a nice focal point of unintended decoration. 

Not to be outdone, the guinomi was fired upside down ending up with two, nearly perfectly placed drip of ash suspended as if gravity was not one of newton's laws or a guiding principle of the universe. The rich, shiny black interior is comingled with deposited ash the runs vividly toward the lip creating a rather intoxicating appearance and perfect for its intended use. I am sure that at the end of the day, every collector and sake enthusiast has there own definition of what makes for a perfect pair but I think these pieces speak volumes about gravity and determination which is clearly written across their surfaces and form from top to bottom and to my eye, they just belong together.

SIMPLE MUGSHOT

Today was supposed to be a productive day, lots of plans, slip and glazes to make up, tooling a few pieces thrown yesterday on a whim and clean some stuff up around the studio. Instead, phonecalls, slight household hiccup, emails and other distraction but at least I got things cleaned up which lead me to uncover this rather old mug. I thought this would be perfect for a mugshot Monday thing, so I dusted it off, it is quite old after all and took an impromptu picture. At least now if you should spot one of these out in the wild you'll be able to recognize where it came from.

APPERANCES CAN BE DECEIVING

I guess the maxim "appearances can be deceiving" makes quite a bit of sense. especially when pots are involved. When I first saw this vase (a single picture) I was sure I was looking at one of the Miraku Kamei potters, XIII, XIV or XV though I suspected one of the earlier generations. Once it arrived, I realized I was rather far afield on this one judging solely from the single, static image, it turned out to be by well known studio potter, Yasuhara Kimei. As you can see this piece bares absolutely no resemblance to Yasuhara's best known sekki stone texture but rather showcases his diversity and technical glaze mastery which he inherited from his master Itaya Hazan during his days at the Totokai in Tokyo. Once he established his own studio in the very late 1920's much of Yasuhara's work centered around more traditional or classic glazed wares of which this almost Takatori style vase fits well into that body of work.  

Thrown skillfully out of porcelain this classic form had wonderful molded fish lugs applied to either side of the neck which brings this piece to like and breaks up the lines of the form. The glaze, running and streaking about the pot is the perfect surface accentuating each component of the vase including th addition of iron to the tips of the fins of each fish lug. I have to admit that given what is mostly considered synonomous with Yasuhara Kimei this glazed, simple pot has a simple sense of classicism and formality. This formality distinguishes itself from his later work but clearly shows his grasp of the fundamentals needed before moving on to a style filled with more freedom and adventure, even a potter needs to learn to walk before he can run.

POWER DOWN

Since I am sure everyone is on pins and needles, my terra cotta cycle concluded last Weds with an array of slip trailed, carved and black pieces for decorating all now in the drying phase. Illustrated is the first two pieces that I threw at the beginning of the cycle last week, two covered serving bowls, tooled and black slipped, carved and then the dots of white slip were added. My intention is to get the group of greenware blanks decorated and hopefull everything in a bisque this Friday or Saturday, it is cool and damp in the studio so only time will tell.

RARE?

RARE /rer/ not found in large numbers and consequently of interest or value; unusually good or remarkable 

 A lot of people end up using the term, "rare" when describing object to infer monentary value or aesthertic or cultural value and over the years I have wondered how often the term actually applies. I am in no way inferring that I somehow have the monopoly of what is or is not rare but rare is not defined as an object that is just rarely observed or come in contact with. I believe there is more to the word, beyond unusual, not typical or other descriptive terms, it has to be something that is uncommon, out of an artists or craftsman normal ouvre of being of such a incredible example that it deserves such a moniker. I will start by saying that I am not sure if this simple Shino chawan is rare or not simply because it is the only one I have ever seen but rather it is not at all typical of the potter who made it. 

This simple Shino chawan was thrown out of a dense, white Shigaraki clay and glazed in Shino prior to firing, the bowl was glazed and fired at Toyozo Arakawa's kiln and fired in a sagger. As for the potter, this was made by Shigaraki pioneer, Takahashi Rakusai III sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The form of the chawan is not exactly typical of the potter and the glaze and simple XXX design around the top portion of the bowl is not something you would encounter on a normal day strolling into Rakusai's studio. This chawan was made and fired at a time when some of the most important potters of the day where sharing ideas and space in their kilns to the effect of seeing Bizen, Shigaraki and Karatsu pots by Arakawa and other combinations by potters like Rakusai III and Kaneshige Toyo making for a rather fertile exchange of traditions leading to this possibly rare Shino chawan that is certainly outside of the tradition that the potter is certainly best known for and connected to the heart of Shigaraki. 

 I should apologize for the quality of the photo as well, this was taken nearly 20 years ago using a digital camera when they were in their infancy and it has been converted from an old discette to jpeg after jpeg and this is what I have ended up with. I don't have the option to rephotograph this pot so as they say, it is what it is.

SAIYU

At first glance I thought this saiyu mizusashi looked quite a bit like a piece by Shinkai Kanzan only to find out it was in fact by the Kutani potter, Asano Norio. Where Shinkai was influenced in this technique by Kiyomizu Rokubei VI, Asano came by this from his master Kitade Fujio before he moved on and set up his own studio and kiln, Kyokusen-gama. Like Shinkai, this technique uses paper resist with applied slip and then an almost Persian blue style glaze which has culminated into a thick blue roll at the base of the pot. A very thin cobalt wash was applied to the surface to accent the geometric design all of which is brought out to its fullest potential in the afternoon sunlight. This appears to be fairly early work of Asano and the the form, lid and knob are very simple in many respects it had to be to create a balance with the colorful and moving surface, a rather nice blend of form and function with a rather particular aesthetic thrown in for good measure.

THE VERY FIRST

I was digging through a box in the studio filled with pottery tools, sponges, clock parts and more when I found a little pot wrapped in a piece of THE CLEVELAND PLAINDEALER newspaper from 1990 where I discovered the very first. To be clear, this is the very first "tea caddy" that I ever made or fired and not at all traditional like a chaire I basically made a diminutive covered jar with a cut, tripod foot. The surface is four layers, three sprayed to create this look and well the squares were liberally borrowed from a well known Hagi potter. This series of pots were a lot of fun to make and though it isn't really anything but a small covered jar, this was how I thought an American potter would develop a pot specific for powdered tea if chanoyu evolved here. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

FIRST

It seems only fitting that the last piece I received last year and the first piece for 2024 were by siblings*, the previous a maple ash glazed guinomi and the later a yuteki-temmoku one. Illustrated is a yuteki-temmoku guinomi by Kimura Moriyasu which depending on the dimensions could be a guinomi or a chawan, a form typically used in both for this potter along with the way in which the piece was glazed. The background is deep and dark, almost black on which the rusty, spotted iron is sprinkled about excepting the lip which has a band of solid color that helps act to define the diminutive form. The foot's exposed clay is a rich dark black with a wonderful crinkled texture and a simple excised foot looking as if over a thousand or more have proceeded its creation. Perhaps a curious feature of this guinomi is whether by happenstance or planning there is a large rusty spot on the inside and out at almost exactly the same place adding a hint of visual flavor to the small pot. This particular piece has a nice weight and solid proportions feeling quite nice in the hand with a perfect lip for use and holding a generous but not unweildy amount of liquid and when all is said and done, it is quite clear this was not Kimura Moriyasu's first run at making a guinomi or even his 1000th.

 (There were three siblings actually; Kimura Morikazu, Kimura Moriyasu and Kimura Morinobu.)

IMAGINATION

Illustrated is an Oni-Shino chawan by Tsukigata Nahiko likely made sometime in the early 1980s that was originally put up on my blog and Youtube a decade ago as a slideshow video. This style of Oni-Shino is predominantly a feldspar Shino with some iron perculating up from the surface and a coating of ash about the surface having a passing resemblance to Bizen tamadare. As you can see the form is low and wide with a prominent and sturdy foot and lip that meanders just enough to get one's attention. The overall surface has wonderful punctuations of iron trying to seep out of the pocks of the glaze and there is a shadowy darkness under the white exterior composed of iron which together other features makes for an engaging landscape. Though this is neither my pot, nor my photo and I have not handled this piece, what I can say from previous observations is that this shape is sturdy and comfortable in the hand or just resting on a shelf, it has an almost defiant posture and commands its space with just the right lift from the kodai to create a wonderful shadowline and be just inviting enough to handle its form, feel its surface and get a sense of its weight, volume and presence. I realize a photo just does not suffice to fill in all the gaps but sometimes you have to make due with a crisp static image and a well tuned imagination or you can get a bit more perspective by going to Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_AGtIE4w7k&t=49s

TEXTURE IN MOTION

Before this chawan was pulled from rotation as we rotate our small collection, I decided to make this short video of this vividly textured Shigaraki chawan by Kengo Saeki. I was hoping that this video may convey the sense of form, surface and texture far better than a single, static photo would. Let me know if I succeeded at that task.