270. MATSUMOTO Haruyuki 松本治幸, 1983- , Hakuji yōhen wan 白磁窯変碗 (porcelain bowl with kiln effects)
Matsumoto was born in Tottori in 1983 and now lives in Shiga Prefecture. He graduated from the design course of the Seoul National University of Science and Technology in 2006 and received an MA from Kyoto Seika University in 2010 His works are made of white or black porcelain, which he produces himself by mixing iron into white porcelain. The walls of many of his pieces are, like this one, so thin that they are translucent. Matsumoto values the way his delicate pieces feel when held and revels in the uncertainty of firing a thin piece‒in the heat, the thin walls may move or warp, adding to the character of the piece. For other examples of his work, see his Instagram account @haruyukima.
Weight: 100g (3.6 oz). White porcelain clay. Fired unglazed with ash deposits in black and gray, and hi-iro effects in shades of red. The white porcelain clay is visible on much of the surface. Weight: 100 g (3.6 oz). Height: 8.7 cm (3-1/2 in). Width: rim, 10.3 cm (4-1/8 in); base, 3.5 cm 1-3/8 in).
The base is a flat disk, a perfect circle about 0.5 cm (3/16 in) high. A small paper label, with the artist’s full name written on it, is attached to the center of the base. The body of the bowl is shaped much like the bowl of many red wine glasses. Any given cross-section is a rough circle. The walls rise in a convex arc to the rim. The gradient is much steeper toward the bottom. The maximum width of 10.7 cm (4-1/4 in) is roughly 3.8 cm (1-1/2 in) above the base; from there the walls slope slowly inward to the rim. The interior follows the shape of the exterior. The surface of this is rough in the areas of the ash deposits and smooth elsewhere.
The outstanding physical feature of this piece is the thinness of the walls. At the rim, the walls are barely a millimeter thick (somewhat less than a sixteenth of an inch). Nearer the base, the walls appear to be a bit thicker, but nowhere near as substantial as the walls of most teabowls. Comparison of the weight of this bowl with item 269 reveals how much lighter this piece is than similar items.
This was fired unglazed, and all surface colors and effects result from kiln effects. The front of the bowl (arbitrarily the side with the most kiln effects) received a heavy blasting of ash, as did much of the interior, which left them either covered with deposits of gray and black ash or colored gray. The margins of these areas, especially on the exterior, were colored pink and vermillion (hi-iro). The back side and the base, as well as large spot on the interior, were unaffected by kiln effects or only lightly spotted by fly ash. In these areas, the white porcelain clay appears.
Robert Mangold, the owner of the Kura Monzen Gallery, characterized the piece as “terrifyingly delicate,” which it is.
This came in a wooden box, inscribed by the artist on the lid, in two lines: 白磁窯変碗 / 治 hakuji yōhen wan / Haru (porcelain bowl with kiln effects / Haru). The final character is inscribed over the artist’s seal stamped in red. Included in the box are an orange wrapping cloth and a short printed biography.
Purchased
from the Kura Monzen Gallery, Kyoto, Japan, in January 2025 (invoice, shipping
and customs documents, jointly with item 269).