225. FURUTANI Hiromu, 1922­-2012, Shigaraki vase with natural ash glazing

225. FURUTANI Hiromu, 古谷弘, Chūroku 忠六 I, 1922­-2012, 信楽自然釉土瓶花入   Shigaraki  shizenyū  dobin hanaire (Shigaraki vase with natural ash glazing)

 

Furutani Hiromu was the father of Furutani Hirofumi 博文 (Chūroku  忠六 II) and grandfather of Furutani Taketoshi (see items no. 218 and 224), all potters in the Shigaraki tradition. 

Gray clay, with kiln effects in the reddish brown, pink, gray, and black ranges, with vitrified natural ash glazing covering most of the exterior. Weight: 2 kg (4.5 lb). Height: 28 cm (11 in). Width (measuring from end of “handle” to widest diameter of body): 16.5 cm (6.5 in). 

The upper portion of this is shaped like a kyusu teapot, with a “handle,” a “spout,” and a lid. Below this the body is drawn out into an elongated cylinder. The piece sits on the flat base. The base is roughly circular, 9.5 cm (3-3/4 in) in diameter, with irregular, bumpy edges. The remains of the three posts used to separate the piece from the shelf during firing are visible. The artist’s mark, the characters 忠六, was incised into the base with a pointed tool. A small white sticker with the number 64 attached to the base dates from this piece’s inclusion in the exhibit of the wares of the three generations of the Furutani family at the Kura Monzen Gallery in Kyoto, Japan, in 2023. 

Above the base, the walls of the body proper move inward slightly in more or less a straight line to the narrowest point, 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in) in diameter and 5.7 cm (2-1/4 in) above the base. From there, the walls rise upward and outward in a gentle convex arc to the widest point, 10.7 cm (4-1/4 in) in diameter and 19.5 cm (7-3/4 in) above the base. The walls then move inward in a shallow convex arc to the neck, which is 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in) in diameter and 25.4 cm (10 in) above the base.  The neck is about 3 cm (1-1/8 in) in height. It moves inward slightly before flaring outward to the rim. The body is encircled with grooves. Near the top, there are deeper incisions, and there is a decided break at the neck. The surface is generally smooth, with rougher places of ash deposits. 

The “handle” is a rough cylinder, 5.7 cm (2-1/4 in) long and about 3.2 cm (1-1/4 in) wide at the end. The cylinder gets narrower as it approaches the body proper. The handle begins 18.3 cm (7-1/4 in) above the base. It was formed separately and attached by being pressed into the side of the piece. The hole in the outer end is only about 1.3 cm (1/2 in) deep. The “spout” is set ninety degrees to the left of the spout. It is about 5 cm (2 in) long and 4.2 cm (1-5/8 in) wide at the mouth. It begins about 17 cm (6-3/4 in) above the base. It is an oval cylinder in shape and, like the handle, was formed separately and attached by being pressed into the body proper. The spout is hollow its entire length, but there is no opening through the walls proper into the interior of the piece, as there would be in a kyusu. It would be impossible, and unwise, to pick the piece up by the handle. 

The lid sits on a flange encircling the mouth, about 1.3 cm (1/2 in) below the rim. It nestles into the opening securely; in one spot a protrusion on the inside of the rim matches up with an indentation on the side of the lid. The base of the lid is flat. The remains of the three posts used to separate the lid from the shelf during firing are visible on the underside. The upper surface is a shallow dome with a small topknot in the center functioning as a place to grasp the lid. The upper surface features an inwardly spiraling groove. 

This was not glazed before firing. With the exceptions of the spots where the posts were, the base and the underside of the lid were scorched pinkish red by the firing but not covered by the natural ash glaze except near the edges. The portion of the body proper beneath the handle and spout is black in color; this area also has the heaviest ash deposits and hence the roughest texture. The back (the side opposite the spout) is reddish-brown in color and much speckled with gray dots. The rest of the vase and the lid are a greenish gray. The colors result from kiln effects and a heavy deposit of natural ash glazing. On the lid and over most of the surface of the exterior the natural ash glaze vitrified to form a glossy surface. The interior shows some colors from the firing in the red and black ranges but has none of the vitrified ash glaze. 

This came with an orange cloth (unstamped), a printed sheet with the artist’s biography, and a booklet from the Kura Monzen Gallery exhibition. It came with a box, inscribed by Furutani Taketoshi. The inscription in five lines reads from right to left: 信楽  Shigaraki 自然釉 shizenyū (natural ash glaze)  土瓶 dobin (pottery vase) 花入 hanaire (vase) 初代 shodai (first generation) 忠六 Chūroku, followed by the artist’s seal in red (again reading 忠六  Chūroku). 

I don’t know if I would call this a vase if the piece hadn’t been so labeled. Its design is certainly unique in its fusion of two separate genres of Japanese pottery—a small teapot and a flower vase. It is a solid piece and a testament to the artist’s imagination and skills in shaping and firing. Unlike many potters of his generation, Furutani Hiromu was willing to push the boundaries of shape. 

Purchased from the Kura Monzen Gallery (modernjapaneseceramics.com), Kyoto, Japan, July 2023.

 

224. FURUTANI Taketoshi, 1974­- , small flat-sided Shigaraki vase

224. FURUTANI Taketoshi 古谷剛敏,  1974­- , Shigaraki shizenyū  hen hanaire  信楽自然釉扁花入 (flat-sided Shigaraki vase with natural ash glazing)

For the artist, see item no. 218.

Gray clay, with natural ash glazing, with colors in the reddish brown, gray and black range, with vitrified green glass-like glaze in one spot on the right side. Weight: 518 g (1.2 lb). Height: 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in). Width: 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in). 

This consists of two rough squares forming the front and back of the piece. The edges of each square are irregular and much pitted and grooved. The sides and top and bottom are rectangular; each is inset from the edges of the front and back by around 0.4 cm (1/8 in plus). The corners where the sides meet the top and bottom are rounded. The piece sits on the lower edges of the front and back squares. The inset bottom is inscribed with the potter’s mark; the small sticker with the number 23 is from the exhibition of the Furutani family's works at the Kura Monzen Gallery in Kyoto in 2023. The surface of the front was gouged and slashed; The part that is reddish brown is more deeply incised than the gray parts. The right-hand side between the front and back walls is smoother and more level than the rest of the piece. The back is marked by three diagonal passes of a spatula-like tool and is much pitted and rough. The left-hand side between the front and back sides is, like the right-hand side, relatively smooth. The rim around the mouth is 3.2 x 2.3 cm (1-1/4 x 7/8 in) and 0.3 cm (1/8 in) high; the mouth is 1.9 x 1.6 cm (3/4 x 5/8 in). 

The wood-firing resulted in colors in the reddish-brown, gray, and black ranges, with natural ash glazing in patches on all sides. There is a small green-colored bidoro tear on the right-hand side. The portions of the front that are red in color are deeper than the gray areas; the edges of this area are sharp and distinct. 

The piece came in a wooden box, with an inscription by the artist. Included in the box was an orange wrapping cloth and a printed sheet containing the artist’s biography. The inscription on the box reads from right to left: 信楽  Shigaraki 自然釉 shizenyū (natural ash glaze) 扁花入 hen hanaire (small vase) 剛敏 Taketoshi, followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red. 

Purchased from the Kura Monzen Gallery, Kyoto, Japan, July 2023 (invoice, shipping and customs documents)

223. Andrew Sartorius, Sculpture series no. 25, “Mt. Meru”

 223. Andrew Sartorius, Sculpture series no. 25, “Mt. Meru”

For the artist, see no. 143.

“This series of sculptural vessels explores shape and form allowing each sculpture to emerge through my coiling and carving process of hand building. 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.” (Author's statement.)

West Virginia wild clay with add feldspar and granite chips, tan in color, unglazed, with kiln effects coloring the surface shades of gray to black, with dark reddish brown areas on the sides and terra cotta color on the base. The molten ash pooled inside the piece and vitrified to form a glassy blue-colored layer on the bottom of the opening. Weight: 1208 g (2.7 lb). Height: 14 cm (5-1/2 in). Width: 18.7 x 13.4 (7-3/8 x 5-1/4). 

The body has three sides. This sits on the flat base, a triangle with curved sides. There are five circles marking the locations of the wads separating the piece from the shelf during firing. Each of the three sides is a triangle with curved sides. The edges where the sides meet are sharp, bumpy ridges. The front side contains the opening, roughly 2 cm (3/4 in) in diameter and located beneath the peak of the piece, about a quarter of the way up from the base. The right-hand side has the artist’s mark in the lower left-hand corner just above the base. The surface of this is pitted and scratched. 

This was wood-fired in the lower front of a train kiln for two days. The exterior colors are kiln effects; as noted above, the ash pooled inside the piece and vitrified. The feldspar and granite chips largely retained their white color, speckling the surface. 

Purchased from the artist, June 2023.

222. ATARASHI Manabu. 1973­- , Iga-ware vase

222. ATARASHI Manabu 新学, 1973­- , Iga shinogi hanaire  伊賀鎬花入 (Iga-ware knife-blade vase)

Atarashi Manabu is the son and successor of Atarashi Kanji. He has been designated a Traditional Craftsman of Iga-ware. Shinogi is the name of the ridge on a Japanese sword and is used in potting to refer to a technique of hand carving that leaves ridges and grooves in the surface, the type of surface that in Western pottery is often called "faceted" or "grooved." Here it seems to refer to the knifeblade-shaped cuts on the front and back sides.

Gray clay, unglazed, with heavy kiln effects on the base and back side coloring the clay black and gray; the front side has reddish scorch marks and gray colors; some ash melt on the sides and the area around the mouth, with one bidoro bead flowing over the shoulder on the left front. Weight: 1.7 kg (3.7 lb). Height: 22.3 cm (8-7/8 in). Width: widest 15.5 x 12.4 cm (6-1/8 x 4-7/8); base 10.3 x 8.3 cm (4-1/8 x 3-1/4 in). 

This sits on the flat base, whose shape is a semi-circle toward the right-hand side and two straight lines meeting at an angle in the center of the left-hand side. The artist’s mark—a rough rectangle with a sword-shaped object in the middle—is incised into the base. The widest part of the piece is about a fourth of the way above the base. The front of the piece shows the remnants of the four wads used to separate the piece from the shelf in the kiln. The center of the front is a deep blade-shaped groove extending from about 3 cm (1-1/4 in) above the base to the V-shaped notch at the top. The right-hand side merges into the back, which generally mirrors the shape of the front. The back has wedges of clay topped with a flat shelf on both sides near the base—the points of these shelves form the widest dimension of the piece. Above the shelves, both sides of the piece are concave arcs rising to the shoulders. There is another deep blade-shaped groove slanting to the left and extending from just above the base to the top of the piece. The left-hand side is triangular, extending from 2.5 cm (1 in) above the base to the shoulder. The shoulders are 17.7 cm (7 in) above the base on both sides. The back and front meet in a ridge that curves upward from the shoulders in a concave arc to the highest points on both sides of the mouth. The V-shaped notch begins in the center of both the front and back at 18.5 cm (7-3/8 in) above the base and rises at a sharp angle in straight lines to the highest points.  The edges of the rim surrounding the mouth are 2.5 cm (1 in) wide. The mouth is just slightly above the bottom of the V-shaped notch and is around 3 cm (1-1/4 in) wide. The interior of the piece mirrors the general shape of the exterior, without the grooves and protrusions. The surface is rough. 

This was unglazed and wood-fired in an anagama kiln. To judge from the wad marks and the kiln effects, this was fired with the front side down and the base toward the flames. The base and the back side are gray and black in color, with a heavy ash deposit on the back. The front shows red and lighter gray colors. There are only minor kiln effects on the interior. A melted ash glaze covers the bottom and the left-hand side, the edges of the notch surrounding the mouth, and (to a lesser extent) the front. There is a single bidoro tear coming over the left-hand shoulder to the front. 

This came with a box inscribed in three lines: 伊賀 (Iga); 鎬花入 (shinogi hanaire, shinobi vase), and 新学, the artist’s name, with his seal stamped in red. Included inside the box were a wrapping cloth, stamped with the artist’s seal, and two leaflets, one in English, the other in Japanese, with a potted biography of the artist. 

Purchased from Kura Monzen in Kyoto, Japan, June 2023 (invoice, shipping and customs documents).

 

221. KAWABUCHI Naoki, 1946- , Nanban-style unglazed flask vase

221. KAWABUCHI Naoki 川淵直樹, 1946- , Nanban-style unglazed flask vase

Kawabuchi graduated from Wako University in 1971 and studied crafts history from renowned researcher and ceramicist Koyama Fujio. He trained in Akahada-ware in Nara and started the Warabe kiln in 1976, focusing mainly on Nanban yakishime (unglazed stoneware) and kohiki glaze (a dripped or swabbed white slip glaze). Kawabuchi is one of the authors of Building Your Own Kiln: Three Japanese Potters Give Advice and Instructions, published in 2003. 

Dark clay, unglazed with blackened ash deposits and kiln colors ranging from dark red to dark brown. Weight: 2286 g (5.1 lb). Height: 17.1 cm (7 in). Width: mouth 2.8 cm (1-1/8 in); rim 6.8 cm (2-5/8 in); neck 4.4 cm (1-3/4 in); widest 23.3 cm (9-1/4 in); base 15.8 cm (6-1/4 in). 

This sits on a circular base, a fairly even ring; the area within the base has been hollowed out in a concave arc with a roughly circular bulge in the middle. Above this the walls of the pot form a long convex arc to the neck, with the widest portion being 5.3 cm (2-1/8 in) above the base. There is a break at the shoulders ca. 12.5 cm (5 in) above the base. There is a line at this point where the walls slope inward more rapidly as they rise toward the neck, which is 14.4 cm (5-3/4 in) above the base. Above the neck the walls rise outward and upward at a sharp angle to the rim. The mouth of the piece is recessed below the rim.  The four sides of the pot have been flattened somewhat, more so toward the shoulders, so that the piece is roughly squared off, but with rounded edges. The surface of the pot is blistered and cracked from the high-temperature (yakishime) firing. It is generally smooth in the parts that are not blistered. 

The Nanban (“southern barbarian”) style uses no glaze and depends on kiln effects for the surface color and effects. The bottom of this has many rough, blackened ash deposits. There are two places on the walls that have ash deposits as well. One side of the pot is a dark brown; the remainder is a dark reddish brown. 

This came with a wrapping cloth and a box inscribed in three lines: 南蛮  四方 (Nanban four-sided); 花X (can’t read the second character, but undoubtedly something that means “flower vase”); and 直 (the first character of the artist’s name), with his seal stamped in red. 

This is a solid, substantial piece, giving the impression of almost sagging under its own weight. With rich colors and great surface effects from the firing. 

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

 

220. TAKAHASHI Rakusai, Shigaraki yunomi (teacup)

220. TAKAHASHI Rakusai 高橋楽, Shigaraki yunomi 信楽湯のみ (Shigaraki-ware teacup)

The seller attributes this to Takahashi Rakusai IV, who was born in 1925. The leaflet enclosed in the box is devoted to Takahashi Rakusai III, 1898-1976, who was one of the major figures in restoring wood-fired unglazed Shigaraki ware and a Living National Treasure.  From the pictures of pots and boxes available online, the piece and the calligraphy resemble those of Takahashi Rakusai III. However, the boxes could have been produced much later by Takahashi Rakusai V, the current representative of the Takahashi family of Shigaraki potters. The box in which this came does not appear to be at least fifty years old. 

Light tan clay, wood-fired with kiln effects in the pinkish brown range, fly ash deposits, and vitrified natural ash glazing, with one bidoro tear. The base and the interior of the foot ring largely escaped the kiln effects, showing the natural color of the baked clay..Weight: 164 g (5.8 oz). Height: 7.6 cm (3 in). Width (at the widest point at the rim): 7.9 cm (3-1/8 in). 

This sits on the flat foot ring, which is 4.4 cm (1-3/4 in) in diameter and roughly 0.8 cm (5/16 in) high on the exterior wall of the foot; the base of the foot ring is 0.3 cm (1/8 in) wide; and the area within the ring foot was hollowed out to roughly two-thirds of the depth of the foot. The interior is level and flat. The foot ring appears to have been trimmed on a wheel—the dimensions are very even. Above the foot, the walls move outward and upward in a straight line at about a 45-degree angle to a height of 1.3 cm (1/2 in). The artist’s seal, a small oval cartouche with characters inside (too tiny to read) was pressed into this area of the piece. The walls proper extend upward and outward at a steep angle in roughly a straight line. The exterior walls and the interior base of the cup show circular finger marks. A groove encircles the exterior, rising slowly up the cup in a continuous line as it moves around the exterior, to just below the rim. The surface of the piece is rough, like fine-grain sandpaper. 

This was unglazed. On the front of the cup near the rim and extending downward about a third of the height of the cup is an area of vitrified natural ash glaze, dark greenish brown in color; at the right end of this area, a tear of molten glass (bidoro) formed and slid downward. The front of the cup and the area of the interior opposite the front are covered with the blackened remnants of some fly ash deposits. The back and the interior of the cup were largely unaffected by ash and are a pinkish brown color. Where the cup was exposed to more heat and flames, the color tends toward a darker, reddish brown. 

This came with a box. The lid is inscribed in three lines:  信楽 (Shigaraki), 湯のみ (yunomi), and 楽斎 (Rakusai), with the artist’s seal stamped in red on the lower left. A potted biography of Takahashi Rakusai III was enclosed with the piece.

A nice example of how a skilled hand and a knowledgeable kiln operator can enhance an ordinary, everyday object. 

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times, Bangkok, Thailand, June 2023 (invoice).