213. Black Oribe chawan

213. Black Oribe chawan  (Kuro Oribe chawan   黒織部茶碗)

 

Light gray clay, with a lighter color slip and a thick black glaze over the interior and most of the exterior walls; base unglazed except around the outer edges. Weight: 368 g (13 oz). Height: 7.5 cm (3 in). Width 12.5 cm (5 in). Width of foot ring: 5.4 cm (2-1/8 in). 

This sits on the foot ring , which is an irregular circle, about 0.3 cm (1/8 in) high on the outer side and 0.1 cm (1/16 in) on the inside.  Above the foot ring , the walls of the base rise at a shallow angle to meet the perpendicular walls of the bowl, beginning about 2 cm (3/4 in) above the base. The walls are much grooved and bumpy, but with a pronounced groove near the center. The rim is quite irregular. The surface is relatively smooth to the touch. 

The interior and about three-quarters of the exterior walls are covered with a thick black glaze, much pitted. The remainder of the exterior wall appears to have been coated with a light-colored slip. Within this are darker “ghost” figures—perhaps created with a resist technique or perhaps a glaze that fell off during the firing.  It’s impossible to tell what they represent. 

The seller says this dates to the mid-Edo period, eighteenth to nineteenth centuries. The ghost figures add an intriguing element to this piece. This came with a box and a wrapping cloth; the top of the box has the characters 黒織部茶碗 (kuro Oribe chawan, black Oribe teabowl).

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times in Bangkok in April 2023.

212. MORI Tōgaku, 1937- , Bizen-ware “turnip” vase

212. MORI Tōgaku 森陶岳 (1937-  ), Bizen-ware “turnip” vase, 1980

Mori Tōgaku is the eldest son of Mori Hidetsugu and a member of one of the traditional six Bizen kiln families. He is known for resurrecting traditional-style kilns and for building gigantic kilns. This was fired in the first firing of one such kiln completed in the late 1970s. The firing began on January 8, 1980, and continued until March 2, 1980. The kiln was opened on April 3 and the process of removing the pots began.  For an informative article on Mori and his works, see http://www.e-yakimono.net/html/mori-togaku-kilns.html. 

Red Bizen clay, unglazed, with ash deposits on one side and flowing across the shoulders of the pot to the other side; colors range from a creamy brown to red. Weight: 1330 g (3 lb). Height: 18 cm (7-1/8 in). Width: rim, 7 cm (2-3/4 in); neck, 5 cm (2 in); maximum, 12.5 cm (5 in); base, 9.5 cm (3.3/4 in). 

This is roughly symmetrical. It sits on the flat base. The body is convex, rising upward and outward from the base to reach the maximum diameter at 8 cm (3-1/8 in), above the base and roughly in the middle of the main part of the body. The walls then curve inward to the neck, which is 12.5 cm (5 in) above the base. Above the neck, the walls slope outward in a straight line to 1 cm (3/8 in) below the rim. At this point the walls jut outward at an acute angle to form a vertical collar around the rim. The surface of the pot is pitted.  The artist’s seals, a stylized plum flower and a cross within two lines, were impressed respectively into the base and the wall just above the base. The body is randomly scored with short, straight lines. 

The part of the pot facing the ash flow (here considered the front of the pot) received a heavy coating of molten ash, which gave it a matte brown finish. As the flames flowed around the shoulders of the pot to the opposite side, they colored the clay a dark reddish brown. The back side was largely unaffected by flames or ash. 

This came in a box. Included in the box was a potted biography of Mori. The top has the kana for kabu followed by a character I cannot read. Kabu is Japanese for “turnip,” an apparent reference to the shape of the vase. The underside of the cover bears the artist’s given name, Tōgaku 陶岳, in cursive script along with the artist’s seal in red. 

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times in Bangkok, April 2023.

 

211. Teapot with Oribe decorations

211. Teapot with Oribe decorations

Dark tan clay, with cream and green glazes and added pictorial designs in dark brown; base of foot ring unglazed as is some of the area inside the foot ring and those portions of the rim and lid that touch each other.  Capacity: 600 ml (2.5 cups). Weight: 444 g (1 lb). Height: overall, 10 cm (4 in); of body proper, 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in). Width: overall, 19.9 cm (7-7/8 in); body proper, 11.4 cm (4-1/2 in); rim, 10 cm (4 in); lid, 9.7 cm (3-7/8 in); top button, 2 cm (13/16 in), foot ring (exterior), 7.8 cm (3-1/8 in); foot ring (interior), 7.3 cm (2-7/8 in). 

This is a small, Western-style teapot. It sits on the base of the foot ring; the exterior of the foot ring is 0.4 cm (3/16 in) high; the interior has been excavated to an even depth of 0.6 cm (1/4 in). Above the foot ring, the walls move outward at a shallow angle, reaching the widest diameter of the body proper about 1.7 cm (5/8 in) above the base. From there the walls rise in more or less a straight line to a height of 7 cm (2/3-4 in), from which point they move inward to the rim, which is 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in) above the base. The handle and spout are attached on opposite sides of the piece. The lid is flanged and rests on an internal galley. It is dome-shaped with a central button for lifting. A hole for venting steam was drilled in the lid. The surface of this is very smooth. 

This has the basic Oribe cream glaze on the lid, interior, and exterior, as well as most of the interior of the foot ring. The handle, spout, and those portions of the walls abutting the handle and the spout are done in Oribe green, as is a central swath across the upper surface of the lid, roughly corresponding in width at the edges with the green-glazed portions of the body proper and then curving inward toward the center. On the cream-glazed portions of the exterior of the body and the lid, various “Oribe” vegetable and textile motifs were drawn in a dark brown glaze. 

The rim of the spout has a few minor chips. At some point the handle was broken off and rather clumsily glued back on. 

A much more successful use of Oribe idioms that the previous piece.

The seller dates this to the 1930s.  It certainly has seen use. Purchased from WTAC Japanese Antiques (NYC) in April 2023.

210. “Oribe” katakuchi

210. “Oribe”  katakuchi

Tan clay, with cream glaze on interior and exterior sides and center of ring foot; decorations in dark brown and blue fading to brown at the edges; base of foot ring is unglazed. Weight: 128 g (4.5 oz). Height: 4.2 cm (1-5/8 in). Top dimensions: 8.7 x 8.7 cm (3-1/2 x 3-1/2 in). Circumference at widest point of circular part: 8.7 cm (3-1/2 in). 

This appears to have been shaped over a mold. It sits on the base of the foot ring. Inside and outside, the foot ring is 0.3 cm (1/8 in) high; its outer circumference is 5 cm (2 in); the inner circumference is 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in). Above the base, the shape is circular for the first 1.6 cm (5/8 in); this area of the external walls has horizontal ribbing, as if it had been shaped with a bladed tool. Above this the walls have been squared off. Three of the corners at the rim have been shaped into arcs; the fourth corner is the pouring spout, which is 1.8 cm (1/2 in) long. The surface of this is very smooth. 

This was decorated with Oribe-like glazes. The base coat is the usual cream gray color. The side opposite the pouring spout was dipped in a thin coating of blue glaze; either the combination of the two glazes or a thinner, watery coating from the blue glaze oozing down the piece resulted in a reddish brown color below the blue glaze. Vaguely vegetable decorations were drawn by hand in a darker brown/black glaze on either side of the pouring spout, both on the exterior and on the interior. 

This is a commercial piece exploiting Oribe conventions. The decorations drawn in the dark brown glaze are inept and tentative, especially on the interior, where it may have been harder to maneuver the brush. The shape is good, but more attention to the glazing and decoration would have resulted in a better piece. It doesn’t even pour very well. (I was deceived by the seller’s photographs; at least it was a cheap piece.) 

Purchased in April 2023 from A Piece of Japan in New York.

 

209. Andrew Sartorius, Caldera Series, no 2

209. Andrew Sartorius, Caldera Series, no 2, 2023

For Sartorius, see item 143.

From the artist’s statement: “This new series of sculptural vessels explores shape and form allowing each sculpture to emerge through my coiling and carving process of hand building. Each form culminates with a caldera to catch pooling ash from the firing. This flow of ash to pool around the base of the caldera cradles a world of glaze crystalline effects that I found thrilling and wanted to explore further. The sculptures reveal themselves to me in shifting from and merging and meeting lines that lend themselves to focusing on kiln placement and the interaction between clay choice and kiln effect.” 

North Carolina stoneware clay with small chips of feldspar “to create the dramatic white inclusions in the warm dark clay body.” Fly ash glazing resulting in colors in the black, gray, russet, and brown range. The vitrified ash in the caldera is a dark green-black color. The front, base, back, and right side have a luster glazing from the melted ash.  Weight: 818 g (1.8 lb). Length: 13 cm (5-1/8 in). Width: 10.1 cm (4 in). Height: 10.3 cm (4-1/4 in). 

This is ovate in shape. This sits on the oval base, which is 7 x 5.3 cm (2-3/4 x 2-1/8 in) at the widest points. The base is a shallow concavity. The sides are one continuous piece; they are shaped in a convex arc, with the widest point roughly in the middle of the piece. The front (shown in the first two pictures) has a vertical groove sloping from left to right, about a third in from the left-hand side. The artist’s mark is impressed into the body at the left-hand side of the front face, just above the base.  The top is highest on the right side. It is shaped into a concavity with a flat bottom (the “caldera”). The opening is toward the left side and measures 2 cm (3/4 in) in diameter. The edge where the sides and top meet is quite sharp. The texture is smooth under the vitrified ash deposit and rougher on the parts less impacted by ash deposits. 

This was fired in an anagama over a two-day period. The front and the back have streams of ash glaze. The heavier deposits of the glaze vitrified nicely in the areas noted above.  The pooling in the caldera is especially impressive and results from the shaping of the piece at this point and its placement in the kiln.

An exciting development of this artist’s skills. 

Purchased from the artist in April 2023.

208. Andrew Sartorius, Sculpture Series 24, “Burnt Bone”

 208. Andrew Sartorius, Sculpture Series 24, “Burnt Bone,” 2023

 

For Sartorius, see item 143.

West Virginia wild clay with small imbedded white pebbles, fired at the front of a train kiln during a reduction-cooled firing. Ash glazed, with colors in the black, gray, and reddish brown ranges. (Note: the blurb on Sartorius’s website described this as a four-day firing in an anagama kiln rather than a train kiln—that description comes from a handwritten note on a postcard that came with the piece.) Weight: 1.8 kg (4 lb). Length: 17.7 cm (7 in). Width: 12.6 cm (5 in). Height: 12.6 cm (5 in).

This sits on a narrow flat base, roughly oval in shape, running the length of the piece and 5 cm (2 in) wide at the maximum. The base shows remnants of the wads used to hold this in place during the firing. The front side and top (the part with the opening) are one continuous piece with a curved edge. The front wall bulges outward, and the top slopes downward to the right and is a shallow concavity. The opening is at the right end of the curved edge, about 2 cm (3/4 in) in diameter. The right side is an inverse comma in shape; a sharp, sloping ridge bisects this shape above the mid-point. Both halves are shallow concavities.

The back side is a rough rectangle, with another shallow concavity toward the right-hand side. The artist’s mark was impressed into the clay on the lower left, just above the base. The left-hand side is a rough circle, narrower at the bottom and wider at the top, a slightly flatter concavity that those found on the other faces. Except for the rolling edge at the front top, the edges where the faces meet are sharp and defined. The surface is very rough. 

The ash glaze pooled on the top in the concavity. There are streams of ash glaze down the front. The back and sides have less ash glazing.

Another splendid piece from this artist. The base is quite narrow in comparison with the top of the piece, but it sits solidly. 

Purchased from the artist in April 2023.