Setting aside the color
difference between catalogue and home photo for a moment, when I first saw this
Tsukigata Nahiko chawan my assumption is that it was heavily used and soiled
which certainly gave me more than a moment's pause. However, just after seeing
this chawan I received a very nice exhibition portfolio in which the chawan was
illustrated and it clearly shows all of the accentuated crazing right out of
the proverbial box, the lines are all iron rich and quite natural under closer
inspection. I had never seen this technique used by Tsukigata before and the
fact that there are three chawan, a mizusashi and a teoke hanaire all in this
style means that it is something he was quite familiar and comfortable with. What
I can tell from the photos is that this is a classic, mature chawan by
Tsukigata with his inviting, waisted form that is comfortable to the hand with
a soft, rounded kodai that rests well in palm and a lip with the slightest of
undulation that calls to the eye and to be drunk from.
This leads me to
the color of the chawan which appears differently in all three photos that I
have seen of this piece which is clearly defined as "crimson Shino".
Despite the title of the piece, the true color is a crimson toned (?) rich coral
color and was first decorated in iron, dipped in a thin coat of the glaze and
then redipped in a more hap-hazard manner to affect the variations of the
surface inside and out. As I am constantly reminded, it may not be a chawan for
everyone but it is a rather poetic piece that further enriched the overall
oeuvre of Tsukigata Nahiko and his pursuit for every possibility a new
tradition has to offer.
To
some people, boring and to others current and lively, maybe that is what kohiki
is all about though it is hard to deny the function and utility of the bulk of
this work from every day to tea ceremony. I was just having an email exchange
when I came across a folder of yunomi that I had here a long while past, a
collection that I was selling for a retiring friend and amongst the pictures
was this Ogawa Tetsuo kohiki yunomi.Now
I will admit there is a very fine line perhaps a razors edge between boring and
simplicity and after all it is a word used way too often but I would argue
there is elegance to this simple and noble kohiki yunomi whose sole purpose is
to press on in service, to be seen and to be used like century's worth of
pottery that has been made and used before it. Because of the simplicity of the
surface, there is absolute clarity of form, nothing to hide faults and foibles,
nothing to misdirect the eye, what you see is just exactly what you get and in
this practical piece, the potter's goal is function with just the right amount
of aesthetic considerations thrown in to make the yunomi go, "pick me, use
me" and why wouldn't you?
When
I reflect on my earlier days in clay, especially in Cleveland, I can't help but
remember just how many teapots and pitchers (jugs) that I made. They were in
every firing be they stoneware, porcelain or terra cotta but over the years
there were less and less orders for jugs and teapots seemed to go to specific
places and special orders. Since those days I have continued to make both forms
and in time they find homes through galleries or now days over the internet. I
think back on the tradition I came from, among which there were three Leach
pupils, all dedicated to function and purpose and by hook or by crook, I can't
see stopping making teapots and pitchers anytime soon.Illustrated is a healthy size cottage style teapot
made of terra cotta covered first in a dark black slip and then over-decorated
in "falling leaves" in thin yellow, green and red with a thin clear
glaze over the surface. The end result, this cottage teapot is built to pour,
holds enough for six (?) and was designed and made to be a standard, functional
pot that is as at home in the hand, on a table or adorning a shelf hopefully
not just collecting dust.
A
fellow collector up north sent me this photo in situ of a rather well fired pot
in use on their dining room table, black cat included. Made by Echizen potter,
Nishiura Takeshi, this thrown pot has had small feet attached to reorient the
direction the pot was meant to be used as well as how it was fired. Resembling
a bamboo shoot, this vase has a wood fired surface that speaks of some ancient
promethean wrath of ash and flame engaged in some enclosed ferocious argument or
at the very least a very serious personal disagreement where as luck would have it the pot
survived wrapped in that molten fury. Despite knowing the origin and process of
this vase I can't help but think that it appears like some mysterious found
object co-opted in to use looking both natural and other-worldly at the same
time. Perhaps the most enduring impression that this simple vase radiates is
that of being elemental, old, ancient, medieval at the least that which ties
the Echizen works of Nishiura in an unbroken line of tradition from the past to
the present.
I
had shown both of these pieces as greenware and decorated just prior to going
in the bisque so I thought I would show the pair just out of the glaze fire.
Both were intended to be glazed in the Narumi-Oribe style and the deep green
did its part rather well but the Narumi-Oribe just wasn't quite strong enough
where I mixed up 20% iron slip with 80% white slip. In retrospect I should have
likely gone 60/40 remembering that more is better (?) but no changing the
results now. All in all it still has a neat look and it works well on the
thrown and squared forms so best to live and learn with the next kiln being the
test crucible especially with all the various kiln filler intended as much for
feedback as anything else.
"There is an element of luck,
this is an element of trial and error, sometimes you fail, sometimes you
succeed. It's not as beautifully simple as it may seem when we are talking
about it." Lakhdar Brahimi
Looking
like violently created rock strata surrounding a moving stream, this Oribe futamono,
covered box is a lesson in imaginary landscapes and vivid texture. Having some
elements to older Rimpa decoration, the texture plays a key roll in
articulating this form as well as inviting the eye from side to side and top to
bottom of this pot which at its core is a simple box, simply executed but the
potter has whipped up the surface in to a turbulent and frenzied vision with
areas of placid calm to balance the landscape out into a harmonious
vision.
This Oribe covered box form
was made by Kato Kuniya (b.1940) who
over his career in clay he has specialized in Oribe, Seto-Guro and Karatsu and
exhibited at various venues including Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition, Japan
Traditional craft Exhibition and the Chunichi International Exhibition. The are
elements of tradition blended with modernism and hints of Rimpa thrown in for
some measures harkening back to the sylized decoration of Ogata Kenzan without
being too overt about it. The interior is simple and calm by contrast though
decorated with a few errant plovers exactly like those that are seen on quite a
few older Oribe works as well as on various Rimpa paintings where they can be
spotted about the waves and sea spay in 2 and 3 dimensions. As with much of
Oribe pottery, it is the carefree attitude of this piece, both the exterior and
interior that truly ties it to the early Edo tradition of the casual and
playful nature nurtured over the centuries and certainly still alive and well
in the pottery of many modern Oribe potters, Kato Kuniya included.
This
large tebori wall bowl is from the same firing as the 3s & Es bowl that I
posted previously. Thrown out of terra cotta and covered in a layer of dark,
black slip the double saw blade was hand carved after the basics for the design
were laid out in black ink to try to get it right. Though I generally go for
more organic designs and decoration every now and again I rely on geometric and
stiffer patterns to use on pots like this revolving saw tooth design, especially
the tebori pieces. As you may be able to see in this picture, this particular
technique is hard to photograph and makes the pieces look harsher than they are
in person but I think you get the general idea from the provided picture and
the combination of the rich red terra cotta and dark, black slip make for an
easy surface but generally an inviting one as well.
I
think it is quite easy for sculptural ceramics to spring to mind when
discussing the works of Ohira Kazumasa from large outdoor installations to
small, intimate almost pieces that are far more than function. Over
the years however there is a portion of his work, much of it based on old Iga
pottery that at its core it is both very functional and medieval in both
appearance and construction. This large medieval style Iga o-hachi is just one
such piece that was my first encounter with Ohira's works back in 1991 or 1992
and is clearly a piece where function and tradition play a key role in both its
creation and purpose. Close to two feet in diameter, the clay is coarse, yet
wonderful to handle and admire while the ash has both covered the entire form
in a fine wet mist while built up deposits have melted around the rim and run
in to the interior of the pot creating some abstract landscape, an imaginary
vista that compliments both form, function and food in its use. While I have
nothing against sculptural ceramics, a style that I am quite fond of, at the
end of the day I generally choose the fusion of form, function, clay and
surface in those objects that play a role in our everyday lives and I think a
large Iga platter like this fits that bill to near perfection.
I
put up a blog post some time ago depicting a classically decorated and
presented mishima mizusashi by kohiki and slipware specialist, Ogawa Tetsuo and
decided to build this short video slideshow to fill it out a bit. As you can
see in the slideshow, Ogawa relies heavily on the Korean archetypes and style
of decoration while adapting them to traditionally Japanese vessels and objects
putting on a display of mishima in the round. In this case the mizusashi was
divided into bands of highly articulated mishima inlay that is sandwiched by
horizontal lines that seemingly contain the expanded volume of the form.
The
top of the form creates a visual pathway into the mizusashi that is then
terminated by the black lacquer lid which creates the perfect vessel for both
use in the tea ceremony and admiration as a solitary and contemplative pot. The
surface of the pot does go beyond just the mishima decoration with areas of
mishima, grey-blue for where the glazed stoneware can be seen and some very
enticing blushing resonating about surface breaking up any sense sameness as
the viewer surveys the piece. Like most pots that I favor, this is a simple
pot, no bells and whistles with a traditional form that as you see all of the
pot through this short slideshow the flavor and subtle complexity becomes all
the more apparent.
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