PAST TO PRESENT

Quite a long while ago a friend sent me an email saying he would be sending me a chawan that I may be interested in or at least looking at. Several days later this chawan arrived well packed in an unmarked wood box but the work itself is unmistakably by Kawai Kanjiro. Rifling through several catalogues and The MINGEI magazine (#556, Ex. No8) I found several nearly identical chawan to this one with this decoration though I suspect there are far more as this form and design work so well together as do most of Kawai's work. The rich iron tessha surface is so reflective and metalic making for the ideal canvas for some rozome decoration and a few experienced strokes of red and blue to complete the bowl. As for the form, perched atop a tall pedestal foot the bowl in this case has a classic wan-gata style that most likely found it origins back in the Edo period lacquer ware of the time borrowed and modernized for a new purpose. All in all this is a rather classic chawan by Kawai Kanjiro with a nod to the aesthetics  of Kyoto which helped nourish his creativity and was his home throughout his entire lifetime where his art connected past to present.    

"Anyone can make beautiful things," says Kawai-san. "The capacity for expression and creation is in everyone, but not all of us realize this. We work and produce in spite of ourselves. The unknown self drives us on always." (* Quote from WE DO NOT WALK ALONE by Kawai Kanjiro that I take to heart and always hope that he is right!)  

(I apologize for the single, poor quality picture it is all I have from this encounter that happened at least three cameras and a long time ago.)

ENCOUNTERS

Over the past couple of years I have had a number encounters with chawan by Koinuma Michio who to be honest, is not really well known for his chawan. The styles have been all over the map from the golden glazed chawan I posted over a year ago to a variety of glazed bowls but recently a salt fired chawan popped up. A bit compact in size, the form is somewhat sculpted creating various planes for the potter to decorate which in this case is a very graphically oriented circle, square and triangle design represent the Zen cosmos. The lip echoes the carefully faceted body with sweeping angles and the base slopes softly toward the well cut broad foot. The foot is surrounded by three areas of what can only be called "calcium blooms" from the clam shells acting as props during the firing vaporizing and further enhancing the verigated surface. What constantly intrigues me about Koinuma work is the way in which a more sculpturally oriented potter approaches a vessel of ritual and function with centuries of precedant.  In spite of those lofty and imposing  guidelines and restrictions, Koinuma Michio is able to create chawan based on his experienced approach to form and surface that clearly is tied to a larger body of work which clearly transcends the expected utility.

GET THINGS MOVING

It has been a minute or two since I last made a katakuchi style pouring vessel so after a recent phone conversation I decided to finish and afternoon's throwing by making three, small and simple pieces. The first piece was glazed up in my Kuro-Oribe style surface and ran so far that I thought it was in a Flock of Seagulls video. This set of cup and pourer was glazed in simple oribe over black and poured white slip and I think it works well with the form and purpose of the piece. This is not a particularly large piece but honestly just right for the task at hand depending on your mood and choice of spirits or tea and as my wife point's out just because it fits snuggly in my hand does not mean it is a perfect fit, one size fits all but by grasping the back curve adjacent to the spout, it is pretty easy and ready to perform.       

As you can see the first photo shows the katakuchi and accompanying cup photographed using a tungsten light source and the second pictures is the piece revelling in the last sunlight that pours in the window. The all black interior replete with crinkled cat hair shows off the real surprise from this pot and the firing, Almost one have of the katakuchi is covered with this soft, ethereal slate blue-grey tendrils filling the spout and running down the side and pooling for a rich pond of swirling texture. Though I intentional put on an additional glaze to get things moving as it were, this surface and the way it worked reminded me that serendipity still plays a role when you use up to five surface on a pot, at the end, things sometimes take an unanticipated turn and I have no problem with that. Now I am wishing the third piece was decorated the same way!

 

ZIP, ZERO, NADA, NOTHING

Illustrated is a classical koro by Kyoto potter Nishikawa Minoru. The form is simple and very functional perched on three feet while the surface is covered in a serene texture and an area of purple splashed across the face and repeated as a ring around the mouth as well. The well fit lid is carved of wood, fits rather snug and is pierced with a number of ginko leaf devices across the surface. Relying a bit on some Chinese ideal from times long past, Nishikawa created a number of works based on Jun-yao style and other Sung traditions but as you can see there is a distinctly Japanese flair crafted under the tutelage of Kusube Yaichi and Kano Mitsuo, that distinguishes this koro from works 4000km to the West.       

Like many pots coming from Japan, this one has its own unique story and one to my mind that clearly defies the odds and gave in completely to fate and the whims of the travel gods. When the package arrived, the top was compressed, looking a bit like an accordian and I could clearly hear the koro moving about freely within the box. Once opened what meet my gaze surprised if not amazed me, the koro was on its side with a piece of paper wedging the wood lid onto the pot without the benefit of any packing materials; zip, zero, nada, nothing. I removed the pot and carefully inspected it including under a 10X magnifier but the rugged, sturdy koro arrived completely intact despite a journey of over 10,000km. I have had poorly packed and even fragile pots arrive unscathed but not since the early days of eBay have I had a piece arrive sans any protection what-so-ever. To whomever packed it, didn't their parents tell them, always use protection?

A GOOD HANDFUL

I suspect at first glance this E-Shino style chawan could be taken for a number of mino traditional potters but the truth is this particular potter is known for anything but conventional works based on centuries of archetypes. This chawan was made by Tsukigata Nahiko and contrary to its style, it is not exactly what I would call early work being made in the late 1980s, though I would call it a good handful of clay. As you can see the area above the foot swells out giving the form more volume before tapering back in a bit making it a easy to use, functional chawan where the thick glaze enhances its fullness and adds a layer of depth and texture. The sparse use of spontaneous iron decoration breaks up the surface and creates a Momoyama ink painting style landscape bringing  the bowl to life in one's hands. 

One other feature is that this chawan was thrown out of a coarser Shino/ mogusa clay than normally seen though I have seen this clay on other pots I have encountered. The clay is a bit looser and softer in appearance and has a decidedly different texture overall compared to the clay that one thinks of coming from the studio of Tsukigata Nahiko.  My conclusions after handling this chawan are simple;  this is likely the most traditional Shino chawan by the potter that you will encounter but despite that fact it is so clearly by Tsukigata that among other simple (?) Shino chawan, this bowl stands out, distinct among the crowd. 

NO ORDER TOO SMALL

Illustrated is a commission, a single solitary covered serving bowl with lid and knob. That being said, I did make a second set as a spare I just didn't think two looked as solitary as the single piece and parts. Over the years I have made a lot of single pieces as orders or commisions and would like to think no order too small and this small version of a covered serving bowl is a good example though. Along with the csb I have been asked to make two matching, meoto style tea cups and generally speaking, I am very happy for the interest and excuse to throw. This covered jar will set up over night, get trimmed, have the knob attached to the lid and once dry, it will get decorated and later glazed and fired. The spare is to insure everything goes well along the process like not rushing things and blowing up pots in the bisque all the way to having pots overglazed and becoming one with the shelf. Even for such small orders while relying on potentially runny glazes, my motto remains the same; better safe than sorry.

REDUNDANT

I apologize if this seems a bit redundant as I have posted a detail picture and a Youtube video of this vase previously but this photo has been hanging out on the hard drive and I suspect there are details to be seen due to how this was photographed. This Shigaraki take-gata hanaire was made by Furutani Michio and is just a classic example of his firing and the manner in which he handled clay; considered, direct and simple. Aside from the running, cascading ash on the piece I am enamored with the way the area about the cut out has gracefully slumped a bit as it lacked the support it may have wished for during the firing. To my eye this adds to the casual appearance of the vessel, equipted for everyday use or in the tokonoma during chanoyu, it pocesses a nobility in its simplicity. It is easy to wax poetic in regards to the Iga and Shigaraki works of Furutani Michio as in fact many of his pots embody that sense of the lyrical fired deep into the bones of the clay.

SHOCHU-CHOKU

According to Wikipedia and other internet sources, the best way to describe Shochu is is that it has about 25% alcohol by volume and it is usually distilled from "rice, barley, seet potatoes, buckwheat or brown sugar" although there are exceptions to include other japanese indiginous vegetation. As with most drinks, Shochu can be served all by its lonesome or on the rocks, with water (hot and cold), mixed or with beer added as well. Though I have had shochu a couple of times in japan, this is the extent of my knowledge about this beverage and please pardon any faux pass in desribing this especially to those who are seasoned aficionados.  At any rate, the reason for this slight background is that I recently acquired my, well our very first Shochu-choku and from my perspective it was a very good starting point.      

Illustrated is a rather robust T'ang sancai style choku by Kato Kiyokazu who has dedication himself to working within this sancai and T'ang styles using elegant, streamlined forms and truly wonderful, luminous colors over a very, very pale clear glaze with a hint of yellow. His use of amber, purples,  blue and bright green breath life into his pots and create a rather visually stunning surface which is a bit further enhanced by your friend and mine, the Sun. One of the other features of note is the rather natural use of pigments where though they are obviously applied they present a more organic appearance, for me nothing ruins a sancai style pot faster than ill applied or ill conceived use of decoration/ pigments. The form of this cup is just ideal for the decoration and considering my interest in T'ang ceramics and sancai wares goes all the way back to the BMFA, the Met and CMA, ending up with a classic sancai choku by Kato Kiyokazu makes for a perfect little pot that I may just have to give a test run though likely not with shochu any time soon.

JUN THE GLAZE

Just so there is no confusion, this is about a glaze not a cat (Jun-Yao) though he was named after the glaze because of his wondrous eye color, so in a way it is also about a cat at least in my mind. That being said, way back to our early days of visiting the BMFA, CMA and the Met, one thing that never failed to get our attention was the various Chinese pots with Jun-yao surfaces, known as one of the five great kilns of the Song Dynasty. Considering the sheer rarity and expense of really good Jun ware we turned our attention to Japanese pottery made in the Chinese taste, also known as Kinyo and one potter who was of instant interest was Miyashita Zenju (1901-1968), father of Showa/ Heisei stand-out Miyashita Zenji.  Zenju had a varied if not somewhat short career spending  time in China and Korea perfecting his interest in varying archetypes and glaze surfaces, studied with Kawamura seizan and Kusube Yaichi along the way  before setting up his studio in Kyoto where he became a key figure in the pottery movement and aethetic circles of the day.     

Illustrated is a classic guinomi created in a hybrid of Chinese and Japanese taste with a surface that harkens back to the Song Dynasty where the rich, active and captivating surface texture could be as intoxicating as the intended beverage of which it would serve. The thin, lip is a wonderful contrast to the multi-colored glaze that is fluent in a number of hues that surround the interior pond of soft, robin egg's blue making for a perfect focal point. Neither too large nor too small, this Miyashita Zenju guinomi has a rather inviting form and bearing, is easy to pick up due to the slight indent just under the lip and is certainly effortless in its filling and use with an eye toward function and beauty, the potter has made all the right decisions.

BRIGHT GOLDEN AMBER

Way back when I started out doing slipware, my first glazes that I used were amber, copper and a steel blue over various slip work. As I began to focus more and more on black and white slips as the basis of the work I turned to using a clear glaze almost exclusively but from time to time I would still go back to the bright golden amber that I had developed (from an existing glaze) sometimes with copper or manganese purple accents. This bowl was a left over and is now in our kitchen from a group of dinner plates, low, wide soup bowls and "catch-all" bowls exactly like this one. The slip was applied and then dabbed over the surface to create this pattern which is also easy enough to replicate over the 18 pieces needed and the four pieces that are left over for our use. The glaze is rather durable for terra cotta and runs from this bright surface to a slightly duller amber depending on the light and looks good over various styles of slip decoration. Added to what is seen it can always benefit from a bit of copper or manganese to spice things up even more though, sometimes simple is just what is called for.

"Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things."  Sir Isaac Newton