110. HANZAWA Hiroshi, plum-blossom-shaped Oribe bowl

110. HANZAWA Hiroshi, plum-blossom-shaped Oribe bowl

Hanzawa has been active as a potter since 2000. He lives in Tajimi, a center for pottery in the Seto tradition, in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. One of his specialties is pottery in the Oribe tradition. His works are available on Etsy at HiroshiPottery.

White clay, green glaze; base left unglazed. Weight: 138 g (5 oz). Rim diameter: 11 cm (4-3/8 in). Ring foot diameter 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in). Height: 5.7 cm (2-1/4 in).

The foot is ring 1 cm (3/8 in) tall on the outside and about 0.6 cm (1/4 in) deep on the interior. The artist’s mark was incised into the base. The walls rise to the rim in a convex arc. The rim has been shaped into a five-lobed plum-blossom shape. Between the lobes the walls are grooved on the exterior and protrude inward on the interior. The center of each lobe is bowed outward and curves inward to the two surrounding grooves. The walls are circular just above the base, and the outward bow becomes more prominently the higher up the wall you move.

The exterior of this appears to have been covered with a rough-textured slip. When the glaze was applied, it pulled away from the higher points on the surface, creating a mottled pattern of dark green mixed with whiter areas where the clay shows through. In a few places on the exterior, the glaze was allowed to run down into the tear shapes characteristic of Oribe. The bottom of the exterior walls and the ring foot were left unglazed. The finish is rough to the touch.

Purchased from the artist, May 2021.