LIVE OR MEMOREX II

I end up following a number of museums and galleries on Instagram and to be quite honest, everyday is something new, interesting and even exciting. Recently on the feed of the Shizuoka Museum of Ceramic Art, up popped a rather familiar vase, so familiar, I had to take a double-take to a shelf near my desk, a classic “live or Memorex” moment. Illustrated is a photo I took a while back together with an inset from the museum of a Nagasaki sancai hanaire by Yokoishi Kasuke XIII. While it was always quite clear these pieces were molded, hand finished and then meticulously glazed, it was still a somewhat surreal experience. I should note that I think everyone in this same predicament may say, hey, mine is better, but apart from the actual object itself, I will say, to my eye, the one here in the US has a much better glaze application with wonderful running gradation of colors and placement.   

On a side note, for anyone considering acquiring a similar piece or a piece by Yokoishi Kasuke XIII in general, these pots are sturdy, solid, weighty and by no means some half-hearted attempt at mass production. Though the wood signed box is a bit on the economical side, the vase and glazing is honestly top notch and if you like sancai or Nagasaki sancai in particular that this is likely the pottery and potter for you.

SIMPLE, SQUARED

Illustrated is another one of those simple, squared yunomi that I really enjoy making here at the studio. I am not sure if I settled on yunomi over mugs because of my admiration and time in Japan or is it I just don’t like the fussing around with timing and handles, maybe a question for another time. This one was thrown out of stoneware and softly squared up to allow for a less severe look and then covered over in impasto applied slip before its final meeting with Oribe and iron. The diagonal application makes for some rather interesting effects as the glaze runs and channels down the furrows making each and every one just a bit different and each plane its own unique landscape which come together in an overarching theme. It may be simple in design and execution but the texture and surface hopefully push it to another place entirely.

IN ALL PROBABILITY

I can’t say that I have handled many pots by Mino potter, Kato Yoji but I can say it is often funny how things come in threes. This wood fired pot is the third Kato Koji I had encountered and is everything I like in guinomi with a fierce posture and form, flowing and active surface and looking every bit the chawan despite it actual scale. Having been fired on three small shells, the scars from the firing punctuate one side while also giving the piece a tremendously tactile adventure to the fingertips. The face of the guinomi is defined by soft throwing marks, drifting rivulets of green ash against a dark brown surface that as it wraps around the pot it shows off iridescence that flows into the interior as a most welcome surprise in the handling. If I am being totally honest, part of me wishes this was a chawan every time I see it but, in all probability, alter any one feature of this diminutive gem it is more than likely you strip it of what makes it so appealing, best leave things just as they are.

FOUR SEASONS

Illustrated is a Kutani style porcelain vase that we refer to as “the Vivaldi vase” due to its rich decoration showcasing flowers unique to the four seasons along with bold calligraphy in gold in a cartouche adjacent to each respective panel. Made of a pure white porcelain, this vase was then glazed and fired and later covered over in a rich surface of red enamel before gold, purple and blue were applied. The gold was detailed by way of sgraffito that brings that surface to life and adds more depth to the surface. This rather ornate vase is just a perfect blend of old-style Kutani technique and workmanship while showcasing the efforts and innovations of a century’s long tradition. 

This vase was made by Kitade Seiko (b.1926),born in Kaga Prefecture and student and son of Kitade Tojiro, launching his career in earnest when he was selected for the 6th Nitten Exhibition in 1950. Like his father, Seiko adds naturalistic, Kutani inspired devices, designs and decoration to his work which is meticulously crafted and painted where sometimes simplicity rules and others where the surface is densely decorated with complex and well thought out patterning. Working in stark decoration over white porcelain, using cobalt or red pigment as a canvas or the combination of the prior, this octagonal gourd style vase is a wonderful example of his work which is true to the style of his father, Kaga and Kutani while leaving room for his own unique interpretation of all three.

LOCAL INSPIRATION

What appears to be just another teabowl is in fact, a small serving bowl so it is true, appearances can be deceiving. This single hexagonal bowl was actually from a group of four that were ordered a while back but being me, I ended up making six to make sure I ended up with the number required. Thrown out of a white stoneware, each bowl was made roughly hexagonal and they had strips applied and flame blossoms, well that’s what I call them, inlaid as alternating decoration. Once bisque and reasonably sure they had made it, they were glazed in the soda blue glaze I have been using and there it is. I will mention that one feature that I like is where the blossom was inlaid, the glaze helps create this droozy effect where the black runs a bit, creating a softer line than when it was first done.       

I should say, to some, very small degree, I have used the work of Victor Schreckengost as inspiration, a designer and ceramic artist from Cleveland (Heights) who I actually had met back in the very early 1990’s. Though maybe you have to put on your imagination caps, much of the black underglaze decoration comes from seeing Schreckengost’s marvelous Jazz bowls showing off his carved and fluid designs under a Persian style blue glaze, how can you not be inspired by such brilliance that was lingering right in your own backyard?

 

FLOATING CLOUDS

At its core, this is a rather simple vase, elegant in its presentation with hints of Chinese porcelain thrown in for good measure. This hanaire has all the characteristics of the evolved tradition where over the centuries Takatori ware became more elegant and cultivated in form and surface to both meet the prevailing tastes and to create a ceramic canvas for a specific ideal. The crisp lines and subtle details act as a vessel that in some ways in this instance is a pedestal for the exotic fish lugs that have become a calling card among the modern, posts 19th century Takatori Miraku potters right down to the current head of the family, Miraku Kamei (Masahisa) XV. Springing from a century’s old tradition, dating back to almost 1600, modern area potters relied on older Takatori ware ideals/ archetypes to appeal to the somewhat conservative nature of the establishment chajin and under Kamei XIII the Takatori teawares moved from being a regional pottery to having far greater national exposure. At its core, Miraku Kamei XIII (1883-1956) made his pottery specifically oriented toward those who practiced (chajin) and collected articles (chadogu) for the tea ceremony (chanoyu) and over time he gained the reputation as a nearly peerless maker of chaire.               

As you can see in this vase made by Miraku Kamei XIII there is a streamlined elegance to the form, the superfluous details are cast away relying on the purity of line/form and enticing and intriguing surfaces. By combining oyu (straw yellows) and rokushoyu (green-blue) glazes, Miraku has brought movement and life to a rather simple and stylized form acting almost like floating clouds on a static form pointing to the highly detailed and articulated fish lugs and broad distinct mouth and lip of the pot. As I stated, this is a simple form with intriguing and curious details that are highlighted by a complex surface of movement and subtle painterly qualities that are as timeless as the Takatori tradition now in its 15th generation and moving toward another century of dedication to an ideal and devotion to purpose and ceremony.

ACCOMODATING

A short while back someone messaged me and ask if I could post an overall picture of the Kumano chawan from a post several years back. It took a while to find the photos which were taken some while back and narrowly missed being either deleted or corrupted in a major PC melt-down but I do my best to be accommodating when possible. What I can tell you is this bowl was quite memorable, quite large and the face gives way to vivid Yohen-Shino with an almost chaotic field of texture and color. Though this is an old photo, likely taken with my old Mavica and saved on floppy discs originally so it is not the best quality to show off this rather nice Kumano chawan but it will just have to do.  

The original post can be seen here; 

https://albedo3studio.blogspot.com/2021/07/crucible.html  

WHAT IS THE PLURAL OF FLUTE?

                                 
                                   

            

This was clearly an end of day pot, not thought out and just thrown using some clay already wedged up. Obviously, it was slightly thought out as it was thrown thick enough to flute vertically and horizontally which interrupts the flow of the movement of the surface. There is a simple lid surrounded by concentric bands to add so movement and interest to that as well and completed with a slab impressed handle based on a Cubist apple stem. The idea to this spur of the moment pot is pretty simple and since a fluted surface looks good, I went with my Oribe and accents of iron which have created cascades of color running down the furrows. By the way, what is the plural of flute in this context, is it as simple as flutes?

NONE THE LESS

Though not made in Shigaraki, this simple, lobed mizusashi is Shigaraki none the less. Having studied with Tsuji Seimei, Kon Chiharu made this classic vessel for tea ceremony which was then fired in an anagama to create a classic, even traditional style of pottery that is synonymous with Shigaraki. The form of this mizusashi is somewhat simple and entirely functional where impressions were made while the clay was still wet and a practical lid was thrown completed with knob so that it would sit just atop the pot, closing the opening and at some level hiding the contents from view. When fired, this pot was fired upright, the lid was wadded to the piece and the form was fired on wads as well, the large botan-mochi style area on the face of the pot was created by some pot acting as a defensive linebacker keeping some of the flow and velocity of the fire and ash from reaching its intended target. The majority of the surface is covered over, excepting the one resisted area on the front and a small area on the rear, in a coat of wet ash presenting a sense of being freshly washed, a feature that I am always drawn to. Everything about this pot speaks to centuries of a medieval tradition even if it was made and fired a few miles away, clearly Shigaraki to the very bones of the pot.

WHO?

Illustrated is a detail from a large covered box form by Ito Hokuto (b. 1961) a student of Ningen Kokuho, Fujimoto Yoshimichi. Using porcelain as a canvas, the form is first glazed and fired and then the magic of varying overglaze colors, techniques and textures take place in this case creating this evocative owl design, one of three perched upon a lone branch and high-lighted in silver overglaze with sgraffito detailing. The planning and execution of Ito’s work is rather inspired a blend of the chaos and formality using quirky designs to tell stories and articulate the surface and form. More to follow. (Short post, lost all track of time today!)