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).
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