231. WATANABE Takuma, 1968- , Bizen-ware incense burner

231. WATANABE Takuma 渡邊琢磨, 1968- , Bizen-ware kōro  備前香炉  (incense burner), “Mirai no kaseki” ミライノカセキ (Future fossils) series, no. 109

Watanabe was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1968. After graduating from Kansai University, Watanabe apprenticed himself to Bizen-ware artist Yamauchi Atsuyoshi in 1991. In 1996, he joined the Bizen Tōen Kiln. Shortly thereafter, he began exhibiting and received awards at the Okayama Prefectural Exhibition, the National Traditional Crafts Exhibition, and the Issui Kai Exhibition (the Issui Kai is a modern artists' association). He was also selected for the influential Tanabe Museum Modern Forms in Tea Exhibition. In 2006, he became independent and established his own kiln. He has also built a small kiln for reduction firing. After shaping a piece on the pottery wheel, he often hand-finishes it by carving, inlaying, and hand-building. The Future Fossils Series now contains over 400 pieces. For more of his work, see his Instagram account #takuma.watanabe.clayworks  He is also on Facebook: facebook.com/bizen.watanabe. 

His statement of purpose (my translation): “By blending Japanese tradition and modern sensibilities. I create ‘objects with ideas’ to satisfy the heart. In this way, my slight products are meant to be ‘tools for stimulating the imagination’ that provoke feelings in the user.” 

Dark brown clay, unglazed Bizen-ware, with kiln effects in reddish-brown and grays hades; some slight vitrification of the ash deposits on the underside of the lid. Weight: overall, 860 g (1.9 lb); bottom section, 638 g (22.8 oz; 1.4 lb); lid, 222 g (7.9 oz). Height: overall: 16.7 cm (6-5/8 in); bottom section, 13.2 cm (5-1/4 in); lid, 5 cm (1-15/16 in). Width: of base of bottom section (also, the maximum width), 12.6 cm (5 in). 

This sits on the bases of three truncated, trapezoidal legs attached about 2 cm (3/4 in) from the circumference of the underside of the base section of the bottom part. Each leg is 2 cm (3/4 in) high. The underside of the base is flat. The artist’s mark, |+<, was incised into the center of the underside. The proper orientation of the mark isn’t clear, but it appears from the similar mark on item 252 that it was incised with downward strokes in the orientation shown here. The edges of the base are 1 cm (3/8 in) wide. The top side of the base is a gentle convex arc up to the walls of the bottom section. Eight small round holes are spaced evenly around this section of the piece. The base ends 3.2 cm (1-1/4 in) up. The walls proper begin at this point. The walls are 10 cm (4 in) tall. At the lower end the diameter of the walls is 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in); at the top it is 8.5 cm (3-3/8 in). So the walls slope inward very gradually. On the outside of the walls, Watanabe attached a variety of molded forms resembling electrical switches and conduits, Phillips-head screws, dials, and plates. One horizontal plate is incised with a stamped “W 109”—perhaps “W” for “Watanabe” and 109 for this piece’s place in the Future Fossils series. There are also two short, braided handles on the lower part of the walls. A curved arrow around one of the dials indicates the direction in which it would turn. Another short vertical arrow indicates which direction is up. There is a circular opening into the interior near the top of this section. The interior of this section is unadorned but shows the finger marks from the throwing process. 

The circular lid consists of a straight-sided flange 1.1 cm (7/16 in) high and 7 cm (2-3/4 in) wide that fits inside the bottom section of the piece. The underside of the base of the lid proper is flat. It is 10 cm (4 in) wide and extends beyond the top of the bottom section. The top of the base of the lid is also flat. To this have been attached several molded forms. Three of these are circular “smokestacks”; with holes opening into the interior of the bottom section to allow the incense smoke to rise and escape. The other attachments are more mechanical in shape and attached with “screws.” There is another braided handle on the top. 

The surface decorations are very precise and even and attached to the body in such a way that the joins are crisp and exact. Given the colors, from a distance, this could be mistaken for an old metallic object, perhaps part of some machine, which has become encrusted with dirt and rusted over time. The surface has the roughness of medium-grade sandpaper. In contrast to the Kishimoto vase (item 230), which defiantly foregrounds its origins in clay, this piece belies its origins. 

Unglazed, colors from kiln effects and gray ash deposits on the exterior. The mouth and the interior of the bottom section show little evidence of exposure to the ash flow, in contrast to the legs and the underside of the base, which are a dull gray. So the bottom section may have been turned upside down during the firing process, thus shielding the interior from the ash flow. 

This came in a wooden box, inscribed in three lines (from right to left);  備前香爐 (Bizen kōro [using the older form of the character for ro], “Bizen-ware incense burner”); ミライノカセキ (mirai no kaseki, “future fossil”): 琢磨 (Takuma), followed by the artist’s seal with his given name in the seal script forms of characters, stamped in red.  Included in the box were a blue cloth and a short printed biography of the artist. 

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

230. KISHIMOTO Kennin, 1934- , Iga-ware vase with paired ear lugs

230. KISHIMOTO Kennin 岸本謙仁, 1934- , Iga sō-mimi hanaire 伊賀双耳花入 (Iga-ware vase with paired ear lugs)

Born in Nagoya, Kishimoto now lives in Toki, Gifu Prefecture. After working in a production kiln, in 1960 he began a serious pursuit of pottery in Mino. He produces wares in the Shino, Oribe, Iga, ki-Seto, and celadon traditions. He has made unique contributions to each of these very different approaches to pottery. Apparently he likes to work in one tradition, mastering it and making it his own, and then moves on to new challenges. He is best known for his Iga-ware and has pieces in the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

Gray clay, unglazed, colors due to kiln effects and natural ash glazing; some green glass-like vitrification. Weight: 2.7 kg (6.1 lb). Height: 29 cm (11-1/2 in). Width of rim: 13 cm (5-1/4 in); maximum: 16.4 (6-1/2 in); of base: 13 cm (5-1/4 in). 

This sits on the flat base. The remains of the wads used to separate the piece from the kiln shelves during firing are visible on the bottom.  The lower end of the piece is a bulbous convex arc extending to a height of 10.5 cm (4-1/4 in), with the maximum diameter just below the midpoint of the bulge. On opposite sides, on the upper half of the bulge, the walls were crushed inward. At the lower edge, just above the base, is what may be the artist’s mark incised into the clay (they could also just be random marks). Above the bulge, the walls are roughly cylindrical, tilting slightly forward toward the front. At the rim, the walls were rolled outward to form a prominent lip. The lip was bent downward on one side, almost like a pouring spout. Two handles, or “ear” lugs—a feature of Iga-ware vases--were attached just under the rim, on opposite sides of the long neck. The exterior of the vase is encircled by shallow horizontal lines. They may be remnants of a coil-building process or perhaps were gouged into the clay after the piece was shaped. They appear to predate the attachment of the handles and the creation of the indentations in the bulge. A ledge was shaped around the interior of the mouth. The interior of the piece follows the contours of the exterior. The surface of the piece is slightly rough and irregular. 

This was unglazed. Much of the exterior is covered with a natural ash glaze, in the gray and black color ranges. The ledge just inside the mouth and many of the horizontal lines on the exterior have green glass-like deposits of vitrified ash (bidoro). Beads of vitrified ash run down the interior. One side of the piece shows kiln effects in the reddish-brown color range, as does part of the base. The interior, particularly the upper portions, similarly shows kiln effects and natural ash glazing. 

This came in a box, inscribed by the artist on one side in two lines: on the right, Iga sō-mimi hanaire 伊賀双耳花入 (Iga-ware vase with paired ear lugs); and on the left, the artist’s given name, Kennin 謙仁, with the artist’s seal stamped in red bearing the seal script versions of the same characters. 

This is a monumental piece. It is insistently clay. 

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

229. Kutsugata kuro Oribe chawan (clog-shaped black Oribe teabowl)

229.  Kutsugata  kuro Oribe chawan  沓形黒織部茶碗  (clog-shaped black Oribe teabowl)

Gray clay; glazed in black and cream with added decorations in brown; foot ring and base left unglazed. Weight: 398 g (14 oz). Width of rim: 14 x 11 cm (5-1/2 x 4-3/8 in); of foot ring: 5.4 x 5.2 cm (2-3/16 x 2 in). Height. 6.6 cm (2-5/8 in). 

This is a kutsugata, or “clog-shaped” teabowl. It sits on the foot ring, which is an irregular oval, about 0.5 cm (1/4 in) high on the exterior; the interior of the foot ring was hollowed out to slightly less than this depth. Above the foot ring, the bottom rises at a shallow angle to the junction with the vertical walls, which begin 1.7 cm (5/8 in) above the base. An artist’s mark was inscribed on the bottom. There could be characters inscribed within the foot ring, but that may just be my eye trying to find patterns in the scratches. The bottom dimensions of the sides are slightly narrower than the rim but generally mirror the shape of the rim. There is a horizontal groove a finger’s width wide running around the piece, centered just below the midpoint of the walls. Below this the walls are shaped in a shallow convex arc; above it, the walls swell gently outward to the rim in a straightish line. The walls have many horizontal lines running around the piece. The rim is rounded. The interior follows the contours of the exterior but is much smoother. Overall the surface is quite smooth, including the unglazed sections. The clay looks coarse, but it is actually fine-grained. The base is pitted but otherwise smooth to the touch. 

The foot ring and most of the base were left unglazed. The outer edges of the base have some spillover black glaze on one side. The interior and most of the exterior were coated in a thick black glaze. Two sections of the walls were covered in a cream glaze (probably put on before the black glaze was applied). Portions of the cream glaze have a rosy orange tint, somewhat like the effects found with the Shino glaze. A brown glaze was used to draw patterns in the cream areas. 

This came in an old wooden box, inscribed in two lines. The line on the right reads: 沓形 (kutsugata, or “clog-shaped”; the line on the left:  黒織部茶碗  (kuro Oribe chawan, or “black Oribe teabowl”). 

The seller dated this piece to the Meiji era. 

Purchased from Treasures of Old Times), Bangcock, Thailand, September 2023. 

228. TAKIGUCHI Kiheiji, 1937- , aka Oribe chawan (red Oribe teabowl)

228. TAKIGUCHI Kiheiji  瀧口喜兵爾,  1937- ,  赤織部茶盌 aka Oribe chawan (red Oribe teabowl)

Takiguchi was born in the Asakusa district of Tokyo and graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at Tamagawa University. He studied under the renowned Mino-ware master KATŌ Jūemon (see items 184 and 227), before venturing out on his own in 1965. His artistic pursuits took him to Kyoto's Shinroku Tsuji pottery studio and later led him to establish his kiln in Ogaya, Mino. A move to the U.S. in 1971 led him to Malborough, Vermont, where he set up an anagama kiln in 1973 and followed with a climbing kiln in 1975. He is a specialist in red and black Oribe-ware.  His works are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum and the Minneapolis Museum of Art. 

Light reddish-tan and white clays, with a slip glaze and added decoration in green, cream, and brown glazes; foot ring and surrounding areas left unglazed. Weight: 334 g (12 oz). Width of rim: 13 x 10 cm (5 x 4 in); of foot ring: 5.6 x 5.3 cm (2-3/8 x 2 in). Height: 6.6 cm (2-5/8 in). 

This is a kutsugata , or “clog-shaped” teabowl. It sits on the foot ring, which is an irregular oval, about 0.4 cm (3/16 in) high on the exterior; the interior of the foot ring was hollowed out to about the same depth. Above the foot ring, the walls rise in a straight line at about a 30-deegree angle to a height of 1.2 cm (1/2 in) and approximately the width and shape of the rim. The potter’s mark was incised into the clay of the base. There is a sharp break in direction at this point. Above this, the walls rise vertically to about 1.2 cm (1/2 in) below the rim in a straightish line. Just above the base, there is a circular groove around the exterior of the piece. Then the walls bulge outward slightly in a convex arc ending in a shallow concave groove, about a finger’s width wide, encircling the piece. This area of the walls contains many short vertical and horizontal grooves and bulges. Above this, the walls angle outward slightly to the rim, which is curved. The interior of the piece mirrors the exterior, but the walls are much smoother. The clay is finely grained, and even the unglazed portions are smooth. 

Another piece using the Narumi technique. The lower section of this was formed with a light reddish-tan clay; the rim with a whitish clay. With the exceptions of the foot ring and an area of the base surrounding it, the piece was covered in a slip, which became glossy during firing. The front side was decorated in two cartwheels using cream and brown glazes. On the back side are two squares—the outline and an interior area are marked off with borders drawn with the brown glaze. The area between the borders was filled in the cream glaze. The rim and the upper section of both the interior and the exterior was covered with the heavy green Oribe copper glaze, which was allowed to run down the sides in several beads, partially covering the other decorations. A narrow line of white clay is occasionally visible at the base of the green glaze. 

This came in a wooden box, with a short printed biography and an orange wrapping cloth. One side of the box is inscribed, in two columns:  on the right--赤織部茶盌 (aka Oribe chawan, “red Oribe teabowl”; a variant character for wan is used); and on the left--喜兵爾 (Kiheiji), followed by the artist’s seal in red ink. 

The seller labeled this a “Momoyama-style” teabowl. It is strikingly similar to item 227 both in construction and decoration. This piece is much more lively, however. In  the Hayashi version, the triangles within the cartwheels were drawn with straight lines; here the sides of the triangles are curved, which imparts a sense of motion to the wheels. The greater abandon with whith the green glaze was applied here also makes this a more free-wheeling piece. Item 227 is static in comparison. 

Purchased from Shogun Pottery (a new branch of Treasures of Old Times), in Hobarth, Australia, September 2023. (Joint receipt with item 228)

227. HAYASHI Eiji, 1931- , aka Oribe chawan (red Oribe teabowl)

 227. HAYASHI Eiji 林英仁, 1931- , 赤織部茶碗 aka Oribe chawan (red Oribe teabowl)

From Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, Hayashi is the grandson of the esteemed Katō Juemon (see item 184), a designated Gifu prefectural intangible cultural property. Under the guidance of his grandfather, he underwent rigorous training in the traditional art of pottery. He specializes in old-style Mino-, Shino-, and Kiseto-wares. He graduated from Tamagawa University, where he subsequently was an assistant professor. In 1968, Hayashi returned to his hometown and dedicated himself primarily to tea pottery. 

White and reddish-tan clays using the Narumi technique (see item 217); slip glazed with added decorations in Oribe green, cream, and brown; foot ring and surrounding areas left unglazed. Weight: 392 g (14 oz).Width of rim: 14 x 10 cm (5-1/2 x 4 in); of foot ring: 5.7 x 5.5 cm (2-3/8 x 2-1/8 in). Height: 7.5 cm (2-7/8 in). 

This is a kutsugata , or “clog-shaped” teabowl. It sits on the foot ring, which is an irregular oval, about 0.6 cm (1/4 in) high on the exterior; the interior of the foot ring was hollowed out to about a third of that on the interior. Above the foot ring, the walls rise in a straight line at a shallow angle to a height of 1.8 cm (5/8  in). The potter’s mark was incised into the clay at this point. There is a sharp break in direction at this point. Above this, the wall rise vertically to the rim in a straightish line. Just above the base, there is a circular groove around the exterior of the piece. Then the walls tilt slightly outward as they rise to around 1.8 cm below the rim. This area of the walls is flatter but still retains the shallow grooves and ridges created by the potter’s fingers as he shaped the piece. Above this, there is another groove encircling the piece before the walls flare outward at a sharper angle to meet the rim.  This area has several shallow grooves running around the circumference. The interior of the piece mirrors the exterior, but the walls are much smoother. The clay is finely grained, and even the unglazed portions are smooth. 

With the exception of the foot ring and the area of the base surrounding it, the piece was covered with a slip, which, when the piece was fired, created a glossy surface. The upper portion of the piece (roughly the first 2 cm [3/4 in]) was formed from a white clay. The top part of this section were covered with a thin layer of the green copper Oribe glaze. The white clay is visible elsewhere beneath the slip. Beneath this, the piece was made from a reddish-tan clay. This section was decorated in cream and brown. The front has two cartwheels. The back side has two square and three circular elements. Each is outlined in brown, with the interior filled in with cream, with added lines in brown. 

This came in a wooden box with an inscription in three lines, reading from right to left: 赤織部 (aka Oribe, “red Oribe); 茶碗 (chawan, “teabowl”); 英仁 (Eiji), followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red with the characters for his “studio name,” or sobriquet. The characters in the seal are 桃山, which can be read tōsan or tōzan or momoyama. They translate literally as “peach mountain.” The second reading might be a pun on 登山, “climbing the mountain,” an important ritual in some sects of Japanese Buddhism. “Momoyama” is the name given to a period of Japanese history; item 228, which has a similar decorative scheme, was identified by the seller as a Momoyama-style piece  If the latter is the correct interpretation, it may be Hayashi’s claim to be making old-style pieces. Of course, all these meanings could be invoked simultaneously. The wooden box was further enclosed in a cardboard box with a label identifying the contents. 

Purchased from Shogun Pottery (a new branch of Treasures of Old Times), in Hobarth, Australia, September 2023 (receipt).