239. MIWA Eizō, 1946‒99, Hagi-ware vase

239. MIWA Eizō 三輪栄造, 1946‒99, Hagi hanaire  萩花入 (Hagi-ware vase)
 

Miwa Eizō was the second son of Living National Treasure Miwa Kyūsetsu XI 十一代 三輪休雪. He graduated from the private Musashino Art University and was a member of the Japanese Traditional Crafts Society and often displayed his works at their national exhibitions (Nihon Dentō Tōgeiten). He was the recipient of the top prize at the Tanabe Museum’s prestigious Modern Tea Forms Exhibition (Gendai Cha no Yu Zōkeiten). ). Unfortunately, he died in 1999 at the early age of fifty-two. His brother Ryōsaku 龍作 succeeded to the family name as Miwa Kyūsetsu XII 十二代休雪. His works are held in the collections of, among others, the British Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. For more on this artist, see The Ceramic Works of Eizo Miwa (2001), published posthumously by the Kuroda Tōen art gallery of Tokyo. 

Dark gray clay, glazed on four sides with the white Hagi glaze, with two of these sides tinged pink from the flames (hi-iro); two of the sides and the bottom are a reddish brown; the lower parts of three of the sides were blackened by a build-up of ash deposits. Weight: 3.9 kg (8.7 lb). Height: 29.2 cm (11-1/2 in). Dimensions: of base, 13.8 cm (5-1/2 in) square; of top, 20 x 10 cm (8 x 4 in). 

This is a six-sided figure, sitting on a square base. The remnants of the four posts used to separate the piece from the shelf during firing are visible on the bottom. The base is slightly less than a centimeter (3/8 in) high. The edges are beveled outwards to form a square 15.7 cm (6-1/4 in) on a side. Four of the walls rest on the base. The vase began as a square; two of the corners were then sliced away to form long triangles, 11 cm (4-3/8 in) wide at the top and tapering down to a narrow ledge 3.2 cm (1-1/4 in) wide at the bottom, sited about 3.2 cm above the base. This left the remaining four sides with three 90-degree angles and one long sloping side; these are about 7 cm (2-3/4 in) wide at the top and 15.7 cm at the bottom. The top is a six-sided figure, a lozenge with two pointed ends, forming equilateral triangles joined to a longer rectangle. The hole, 4.7 cm (2-7/8 in) wide is a circular opening to a vertical shaft about 2.5 cm (1 in) long. The top slopes inward from all sides toward the opening. It’s impossible to get accurate measurements, but the walls appear to be about a centimeter thick. The surface of this varies from very smooth in the glazed areas to rough and pitted in the sections with ash buildup. 

The four-sided walls were glazed with the white Hagi glaze (Wikipedia has good information on this glaze; see under “Hagi ware”). On the front side (arbitrarily designated as the side with the most kiln effects), the glaze turned pink because of the kiln effects. On the back side and the top, the glaze remained white and exhibits much crackling. The two triangular sides are rich reddish brown. The bottoms of the two front four-sided panels were blackened by ash deposits during the firing and are mottled black, bluish gray, and white; the base of one of the back panels was lightly blackened during the firing. The interior was unglazed. 

This came in a wooden box inscribed in two lines, 萩花入 (Hagi hanairei, Hagi-ware vase) and 栄造 (Eizō), followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red. 

The appearance of this varies considerably depending on the side from which it is viewed. From the sides it appears to be a tall, rectangular vase, with dramatic contrasts of light and dark. Viewed from the front or back, with the triangular portions centered, the shape becomes much more complex. From the back side, it appears to be a highly glazed, mostly white piece; from the front, a richly colored vase dominated by a blush pink hue. A very substantial work. 

Purchased from the Kura Monzen Gallery in Kyoto, Japan, in January 2024 (invoice, shipping and customs documents).

238. SAKATA Jinnai, 1943­- , white clay colored, wave-patterned, flattened vase)

238.  SAKATA Jinnai 坂田甚内 , 1943­- , Hakudeisai hajō henko  白泥彩波状扁壺  (white clay colored, wave-patterned, flat-sided vase)

 

Sakata Jinnai was born in Tokyo in 1943 and apprenticed under Kamoda Shōji in 1964, establishing his first kiln in 1966. His work was selected for display at the Nihon Dentō Kōgei Shinsakuten (National Traditional New Crafts Exhibition) in 1969, and the following year at the Nihon Dentō Kōgeiten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition). In 1971 his work was exhibited at the first Nihon Tōgeiten National Ceramics Exhibition. This event toured the United States and Canada as well. Two years later he was seen there again, and this time the show toured South America. In 1977 he moved away from the competitive world of mass exhibitions and focused more on private galleries. He was the first artist selected for display at the newly opened Takashimaya Gallery in New York in 1993. Work by him is held in the collections of the British Museum, Rockefeller Foundation, Sakuma Museum, and Waseda University Museum, as well as some of Japan's holiest sites such as the Ise Shrine, Izumo Shrine, Takachiho Shrine, Yakushiji in Nara, and both Kodaiji and Enryakuji in Kyoto. Not limited to clay, he also works in painting, washi handmade paper (from 1995), and glass (from 2000). 

White clay, with kiln effects in coral and brown on the sides and top; the base is largely free of color; the interior is blackened with soot. Weight: 4 kg (8.9 lbs). Height: 31 cm (12-1/4 in). Length: 22.7 cm (8-7/8 in). Width: 9.8 cm (3-7/8 in). 

This is a rectangular box, with longer front and back wall panels, and narrower side wall panels. The wall panels are about a centimeter (3/8 in) thick. The piece sits on the bottom edges of the walls. The bottom of the piece is recessed 2 cm (3/4 in) from the lower edges of the exterior walls. The joins where the bottom meets the side panels have been filled in with clay rounded in concave arcs. The artist’s seal, a square cartouche with the seal-script form of the character 甚, was impressed into the center of the bottom panel. The front and back panels have the same shape. At the bottom of each of these panels are three irregularly shaped indents. The sides of the panels rise in roughly straight lines to a height of 23 cm (9 in) and then curve inward. A rectangular piece was cut out of the tops of both panels, centered across the width, 13.4 cm (5-1/4 in) wide and 2.7 cm (1-1/16 in) deep. This creates four “horns” at the top. The two end sides are recessed about 1.3 cm (1/2 in) from the outer edges of the front and back panels. As with the bottom, the joins between the panels were filled in with clay rounded in concave arcs. At the top, the side panels curve inward, ending just before the peaks of the “horns.”  The top opening has two panels bordering the exterior walls, recessed 1.3 cm (1/2 in) below the lower edge of the rectangular cutout on the front and back panels. The two recessed panels measure roughly 9.2 x 3.8 cm (3-5/8 x 1-1/2 in), leaving an opening into the interior 8.8 x 7.3 cm (3-5/8 x 2-3/8 in). On the interior of the vase is a rectangular panel, running between the front and the back walls and from the center of the bottom to roughly two-thirds of the way up the piece, perhaps serving as a brace to strengthen the exterior walls. 

The exterior of the piece, including the bottom and the recessed panels at the top were scored with a metal comb-like tool to create wave patterns. These patterns are irregular and random. The surface of this piece is coarse and unfinished.

Kiln effects randomly colored the clay coral, with many patches of the white clay body showing through, creating a mottled effect. There are a few darker brown blotches. 

This came in a wooden box inscribed by Sakata, along with an orange covering cloth and a printed biography. The upper side of the lid is inscribed, in two lines, 白泥彩 hakudeisai (white clay, colored)  波状扁壺 hajō henko  (wave-patterned, flat-sided vase)/ The bottom side of the lid is inscribed 甚内  Jinnai, with Sakata’s seal in red.

 Purchased from the Kara Monzen Gallery in Kyoto, Japan, in December 2023. (Invoice, shipping and customs documents)