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)