219. FURUTANI Taketoshi, 1974­- , Shigaraki vase

 219. FURUTANI Taketoshi 古谷剛敏,  1974­- , Shigaraki shizenyū hanaire 信楽自然釉花入  (Shigaraki vase with natural ash glazing)

                                         

Furutani Taketoshi is the son of Furutani Hirofumi 博文 (Chūroku  忠六  II) and grandson of Furutani Hiromu 弘 (Chūroku I), all potters in the Shigaraki tradition. 

Gray clay, with natural ash glazing, with colors in the tan, brown, and black ranges, with vitrified green glass-like glaze in the depressed area on the top where the ash pooled. Weight: 1.5 kg (3.4 lb). Height: overall 15.2 cm (6 in); of walls 12.6 cm (5 in). Width: mouth 2.7 cm (1-1/.8 in); rim 5.1 cm (2 in); walls at top 11.8 cm (4-5/8 in); widest 12.6 cm (5 in); base 11.3 cm (4-1/2 in). 

This sits on the flat base, which is roughly circular with many indents in the circumference. The base has been scored with a flat spatula-like tool to create wide planes with ridged edges. The surface of the base is puckered with many small indentations. The artist’s mark was etched into the center of the base. There are the remains of the three wedges used to separate the pot from the shelf during firing and a small paper sticker with 83 written on it (from the June 2023 exhibition of the Furutanis’ wares at the Kura Monzen Gallery in Kyoto). Above the base is a convex bulge extending to a height of about 4 to 4.5 cm (1-1/2 to 1/3/4 in). There are several horizontal grooves in this area. Above this the walls rise in more or less a straight line. The upper edge of the walls is jagged and broken and quite thin at the top edge. It surrounds a flat, level depression about 1.2 cm (1/2 in) deep surrounding the central neck and opening of the vase. The neck is 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in) tall. It is narrowest at the base and flares outward at a steep angle to the rim. The rim is flat, roughly oval in shape and of varying widths.  The surface of this is glassy smooth where the vitrified ash deposits were thickest and rough where the surface absorbed fly ash without vitrification. The molding of this was (intentionally) very rough. The piece is bottom-heavy. 

The glazing on this is entirely the result of natural ash deposits vitrifying in the kiln. With the exception of the base and a portion of the lower walls that must have been out of the reach of the flames, the surface is coated with a thick vitrified ash glaze. The depressed area at the top has a thick deposit of a dark green, glass-like melted ash glaze. 

The piece came in a wooden box with an inscription by the artist. Included in the box was an orange wrapping cloth stamped in red with the artist’s seal and a printed sheet containing the artist’s biography. The characters on the box lid are (from right to left)  信楽  Shigaraki 自然釉 shizenyū (natural ash glaze) 花入 hanaire (vase) 剛敏 Taketoshi, followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red. The seller included a copy of the exhibition catalogue as well.

Purchased from the Kura Monzen Gallery, Kyoto, Japan, June 2023 (invoice, shipping and customs docusments; exhibition catalogue).

 

218. TANI Seiuemon IV, 1913-?, Shigaraki uzukumaru vase

218. TANI Seiuemon IV 四代 谷清右衛門 , 1913-?, Shigaraki uzukumaru vase

Born in Shigaraki in 1913, Tani Seiuemon IV was a key person in the revival of Ko-Shigaraki and Ko-Iga styles with natural ash glaze effects. His works are exhibited in the British Museum and Cleveland Museum of Art. His son Tani Q currently operates the family kiln in Shigarakicho. To judge from pictures of other works by him available online, this piece is typical of his work. 

Reddish brown clay with embedded feldspar pebbles, wood-fired with natural ash deposits, colors ranging from reds through browns to pinks; Weight: 1192 g (2.7 lb). Height: 14.5 cm (5-3/4 in). Widths: mouth 4.8 cm (1-7/8 in); lip 7 cm (2-3/4 in); neck 4.8 cm (1-7/8 in); shoulders (widest) 12.6 cm (5 in); base 10.2 cm (4 in). 

This shape is known as the uzukumaru (蹲る) or “crouching” style of vase, apparently a reference to its squat shape. This sits on the flat base, which is a circular with pitted edges. The surface of the base was scored with a flat blade to create ridges and grooves. The artist’s mark, a cursive form of the character 清 was etched into the middle of the base. The walls immediately above the base bulge outward slightly as if the weight of the clay pressed the body outward before the clay dried. Above this the walls rise in a shallow convex arc to the neck. The widest point is at the shoulders 8.7 cm (3-1/2 in) above the base. From there the walls curve inward more rapidly to the neck, which lies 11.7 cm (4-5/8 in) above the vase. Above the neck the walls curve inward slightly and then outward in in a concave arc to meet the lip, which is a horizontal ring topped by a short vertical slanting slightly inward. The interior of the pot roughly mirrors the exterior. The surface of this is rough and pitted. Tani added the small feldspar pebbles common in Iga ware to portions of the exterior. 

This was unglazed and wood-fired. Natural ash deposits cover much of the surface. Some of these vitrified, leaving a glassy surface. 

The pot is heavily weighted toward the base, which is about 1.2 cm (1/2 in) thick. 

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

217. Narumi Oribe kutsugata chawan

217. Narumi Oribe 鳴海織部 kutsugata chawan (clog-shaped teabowl)

Narumi (aka red Oribe) is a technique in which two clays are used to make a piece. Here a white clay was used to form the upper edge of the walls; most of this was subsequently covered with the dark green Oribe glaze. In some places on the exterior lower edge of the green glaze, a narrow band of the white clay is visible, revealing how irregular this area is. The rest of the piece was formed from a reddish brown clay. A thin white slip was applied to most of this area, resulting in a pinkish color when the pot was fired. Additional decoration was applied in dark brown and white. The foot ring and the area around it were left unglazed. Weight: 304 g (11 oz). Height: 7.3 cm (2-7/8 in). Width: 13.6 x 10.4 cm (5-3/8 x 4-1//8 in). 

This sits on the foot ring, which mirrors the shape of the piece as a whole. It is 6.3 x 5.7 cm (2-12 x 2-1/4 in) and roughly 0.6 cm (1/4 in) high inside and out. Above the foot ring, the walls move outward at about a 15-degree angle to a height of 1.2 cm (1/2 in) and the approximate dimensions of the piece. From there the walls rise in more or less a straight line to a height of 5 cm (2 in). Above this the rim bulges outward and then upward to meet the rim of the cup, with several horizontal ridges running around the cup. This is smooth to the touch. The unglazed portion around the ring foot is also quite smooth—the red clay used here is very fine textured. 

The green band encircles the rim and the upper walls. It was allowed to drip down in several places. The interior and most of the exterior walls were coated with a thin white slip. This area is dimpled with small dots and thin lines where the clay shows through. Brown and white glazes were used to add decoration to the piece. The front has a stylized branch with leaves. This was done very carefully and deliberately. An attempt was made to make the branch appear three-dimensional. Unusually, the design spreads across the front and onto the right side. On the back of the piece are three crudely drawn circles. 

This came in a box with “Naru(mi) Oribe” 鳴織部 inscribed in the center. The characters on the left are too cursive for me to decipher. 

The seller claimed that this dates to the Meiji era. 

A nice example of red Oribe and the kutsugata shape. The formal, careful decoration on the front of the piece contrasts nicely with the slapdash circles on the back. The piece has good balance. 

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

 

216. Iga-ware mizusashi

216. Iga-ware mizusashi 伊賀焼水指, a lidded fresh water container for the tea ceremony

 

Dark brown clay, with natural ash glazing in a blue-green color on the exterior and a whitish lining glaze over much of the interior. Weight: 1354 g (3 lbs). Height: 15.1 cm (6 in). Diameter: of mouth, 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in); of lid, 10.4 cm (4-1/8 in), of rim, 12.5 cm (5 in); maximum of body, 13.9 cm (5-1/2 in); of base, 11.6 cm (4-5/8 in). 

This sits on the flat base, which has several gouges from the bamboo shaping spatula. Above the base the walls move outward and upward in a straight line at about a 45-degree angle to a height of 1.7 cm (5/8 in) to the meet the walls proper of the body. The widest point of the piece occurs at this junction. The body looks almost as if it had sagged downward at this point. Above the junction the walls move inward in more or less a straight line to a height of about 3 cm (1-1/4 in). From there the walls rise roughly in a straight line to the shoulders of the piece 10 cm (4 in) above the base, where they curve outward and then inward in a convex arc to the neck, which is 10.4 cm (4-1/8 in) in diameter and located 11.4 cm (4-1/2 in) above the base. They then rise in a straight line to the rounded edge of the rim of the piece. The body of the piece is much dented, pitted, grooved. The two ear lugs are affixed at the shoulder; they are crudely fashioned, roughly circular knobs with a hole in the center. 

The lid sits on an interior gallery. The bottom of the lid is a rounded convex shape. The edge of the top surface is a flat circle; the interior of this area was hollowed out. A rectangular piece of clay was pressed into the center of the lid and folded upward to create a curved grasping point.  The lid sits securely, and all but the top of the grasping point is below the rim of the body proper. 

The surface is much pitted and rough to the touch. There are a few small pebbles embedded in the surface of the exterior walls. 

The lining glaze covers the bottom of the interior and some of the sides. It is whitish in color. The colors on the exterior range from black through dark browns to a lighter yellowish brown.  The yellowish brown color appears to have been brushed on and may result from interaction between the wood-firing and a slip or some sort of flashing glaze.  The exterior also has drips and spots of the blue-green ash glaze for which Iga-ware is known. In a few places, this glaze has vitrified and formed the turquoise spots known in Japanese as bidoro (from the Portuguese vitro ‘glass’). The underside of the lid is a sooty black. 

This came in an old wooden box. Included in the box was a white wrapping cloth. The top is inscribed 水指古伊賀焼, or “Mizusashi, Old Iga-ware.” The wood has grown so dark over time that the characters are barely visible. At a later point, someone wrote these characters on a small slip of paper and taped it to the lid.  The side of the box has an intriguing inscription.  The line on the right reads 明治三十一年十一月 (Meiji sanjūichi nen jūichi gatsu). The inscription uses a variant character for the first 十. This translates as “Thirty-first year of the Meiji era, eleventh month,” or November 1896. Japan officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 1870s, and I’m assuming this date reflects that.  

The middle line of the inscription was written in much larger characters and reads 吉春日.  This could have several possible translations. Literally it is “auspicious spring day,” or just “auspicious day.” The first two characters are also used as a given name read “Yoshiharu.”  The larger size relative to the other characters indicates its importance. It might be the name of the piece. Interestingly, beneath the second and third characters are the remnants of other characters, impossible to read now. 

The third line, on  the left, reads 古伊賀水指, or “old Iga mizusashi,’ The inclusion of “old” is intriguing—was  the piece already “old” when the box was made? Does the date indicate when the piece was made, or was this a gift on an auspicious occasion with the date of the gifting inscribed on the box? 

A great piece of pottery. 

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times in Bangkok, Thailand, May 2023.

 

 

215. E-Shino (painted Shino) chawan (teabowl)

215. E-Shino 画志野 (painted Shino) chawan (teabowl)

Light tan clay, with black underpainting on the walls and a thin coating of Shino glaze on all but the foot ring and the area of the base around it. Weight 196 g (7 oz). Height: 7 cm (2-3/4 in). Diameter: rim, 8.2 cm (3-5/16 in); maximum: 9.3 cm (3-5/8 in); of foot ring: 4.5 cm (1-3/4 in). 

This sits on the flat foot ring which is about 0.5 cm (3/16 in) high on the outer rim and about half that in the center. The symmetry of the ring foot and the inner depression suggest that they were formed on a wheel. Above the foot, the base rises outward and upward at a shallow angle to a height of 1.2 cm (1/2 in). The kiln or the artist’s seal, an oval cartouche, was impressed into the base beside the foot ring. There are two characters written in seal script, but the impression is so light that they cannot be read. The walls are roughly vertical, rising for about 6 cm (2-1/4 in). There is a horizontal groove about three-quarters of way up the walls, roughly a finger’s depth. Below and above this groove, the walls bow outward slightly in shallow arcs. The maximum diameter is 2.7 cm (1-1/8 in) above the base. The front of the cup has a swooping design of two rough semicircles with a curved stem rising above them in the center and a fillip on either side.  Within each semicircle is a cross-hatch pattern. On either side of this design is a series of short crossed lines, reminiscent of those used in Japanese drawings to indicate fences. The back of the cup has another series of these short crossed lines. The surface of this is lightly pitted. 

This came with a box. The box is uninscribed, but a sheet of paper attached to one side has  志野茶盃 (Shino teacup) written on it. To the right of this is a small line of faint characters; the second character appears to be a variant form of the word for “kiln” 焼; the third looks like 家 (“family”). 

The underpainting was done in a black glaze. A thin layer of Shino glaze was applied over this on all but the foot ring  and the surrounding area of the base. The Shino has a slightly pinkish glaze, more on the inside than on the outer walls. 

The seller claims that this is a Meiji (1868-1912) era piece. It is a good example of an e-shino piece. The underdrawing was executed with free-flowing ease and spirit. 

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times in Bangkok, Thailand, May 2023.