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).