247. KIM Hono, 1958­- , tsubo

247. KIM Hono 金憲鎬 김헌호, 1958­- , tsubo 地球のためいき  “Chikyū no tameiki” (jug, “The Earth Sighs”)

Kim was born in 1958 in Seto City in Aichi Prefecture. He graduated from the Prefectural Ceramics School in 1977 and became an apprentice at a local kiln before establishing himself as an independent artist in 1982. He held his first solo exhibition in Nagoya in 1985. He has been exhibited at the Nihon Tōgeiten National Ceramics Exhibition, National Traditional Crafts Exhibition, Asahi Tōgeiten Exhibition, and Chūnichi Kokusai Tōgeiten, and his works have been shown in some of Japan's top galleries.  Hohnoho Magazine, a leading Japanese magazine on ceramics, once profiled fifty of the country’s emerging ceramicists and asked them to define their work. Most of the respondents wrote a few paragraphs. Kim cryptically replied only: kaze wo kanjiru koto (feeling the wind). 

Light tan clay. The interior has a patch of aquamarine glaze; the exterior is unglazed with mottled shades of tan and brown. Height: 42 cm (16-1/4 in): width: 40 x 34 cm (16 x 13-1/2 in). 

This sits on a flattish, roughly circular base. The artist’s name is written on the base in cursive roman script, “Kim Hono.” The walls are roughly a centimeter (3/8 in) thick. The pot is globular, with longer dimensions from right to left. Part of the clay was torn away to form a rectangular opening in the front. At the top end of the opening an irregular flap of clay was tilted upwards. 

The clay body is rough and unfinished; The surface is cracked and pitted. The pot emphasizes its origins as clay, muddy, coarse. It does, however, ping musically when tapped. 

This was unglazed, except for a patch of much cracked, glassy aquamarine glaze on one wall of the interior. The mottled surface probably results from a lighter colored slip.

This came in a box with a brown wrapping cloth. On the front of the box Kim drew a picture of the pot in rough outline, with a lotus seedpod on a long stem extending from the interior of the piece up and across the top of the box. He inscribed the top and the left side of the box in three lines: 地球の / ためいき / 김헌호 chikyū no / tameiki /kim heonho (the earth / sighs / Kim Heonho).  He wrote his name in the Korean hangul script, with the symbols for Kim in the upper right-hand corner of the left side of the box and continuing in a horizontal line with his given name in the lower left-hand corner of the lid of the box. To judge from other examples of his work online, this is how he decorates his tomobako. Given both the Chinese characters and the hangul, his given name in Japanese is read “hon-o.” 

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

 

246. MURAKOSHI Takuma, 1954- , guinomi

246. MURAKOSHI Takuma  村越琢磨, 1954- ,  Shunjū sake-nomi 春秋酒呑 (colorful sake cup)

 

For Murakoshi, see item no. 234. 

Light gray clay, with glazes in white, blue, black, and a dark reddish brown; a few spots on both the external and the internal walls are unglazed with kiln effects in light pink (much like the color on the mizusashi by Murakoshi (item no. 235) and a pool of vitrified green-glass-like deposit in the bowl of the cup. Weight: 276 g (10 oz). Height: 6.7 cm (2-5/8 in). Widths: rim, 8.7 x 7/8 cm (3-1/2 x 3-1/8 in), base, 5 cm (2 in). Capacity: 90 ml (6 tablespoons, or 3/8 cup). 

This was formed by hand in Murakoshi’s crude, chunky style. It sits on a flat, circular base. The remains of the three posts used to separate the piece from the kiln shelf are visible. The center of the base was pushed in to form a cavity about 1.3 cm (1/2 in) deep. The walls were formed into a pedestal that slopes upward and outward before flaring out into the bowl of the drinking cup, starting about 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in) above the base. The pedestal area consists of deep grooves bordered by sharp ridges; the pedestal is roughly circular in cross-section. The bowl is an oval. The interior of the bowl is about 4 cm (1-5.8 in) deep. The surface of the piece is smooth and glossy with a few sharp spots. 

Murakoshi makes many pieces, especially those used for eating and drinking, with this style of decoration, which he labels shunjū; this translates literally as “spring and autumn,” but here means something more like “colorful.”  It features a creamy white base, with splashes of blue and black and sometimes a dark brownish red. The glazes on this particular piece exhibit more carbon capture than on other pieces with the same decoration scheme (at least to judge from the pictures), and hence the colors are somewhat darker and more muted in tone. This piece also has a nice pool of the vitrified, green-glass-like bidoro at the bottom of the bowl that occurs when the ash deposits melt during the firing. This vitrified green-glass deposit may be the result of shizuku 雫, a natural, unplanned, and unpredictable kiln event when built-up ash, usually on the ceiling of the kiln or on the underside of a kiln shelf, melts and falls onto a piece, creating a droplet or drip.

This fits nicely in the hand—the grooves and ridges in the pedestal area create comfortable areas for the fingers to hold this piece. The chaos of the decoration matches the chaos of the shape. 

This came in a wooden box inscribed by Murakoshi in his distinctive calligraphy. As is his wont, the inscription begins on top of the box and continues down the front side. The inscription, in three lines, reads 春秋 / 酒呑 /たくま shunjū / sake-nomi/ Takuma (colorful / drinking cup / Takuma). The top is stamped in red with a seal with Murakoshi’s studio name: へうげも屋  (Hyōgemono-ya, “Jocular Fellow Studio”). He uses the kyūkanazukai, or old kana usage, to write hyō. Hyōgemono is also the name of a popular manga character. On the side of the box is another seal stamped in red, giving Takuma in characters, 琢磨. Included in the box were a brown wrapping cloth and a printed leaflet from Murakoshi. 

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

245. NISHIHATA Tadashi, 1948- . Tamba-ware bucket-shaped vase

245. NISHIHATA Tadashi  西端正, 1948- . 丹波窯変桶形花入 Tamba yōhen okegata hanaire (Tamba-ware bucket-shaped vase)

 

Nishihata was born in the old castle town of Sasayama in the mountains of Hyōgo in 1948. He began potting in 1969, focusing on items for use. In 1986 he first entered the realm of public exhibitions with his entry into the Nihon Dentō Kōgeiten National Traditional Crafts Exhibition. He has received numerous awards at this and other exhibitions. He now resides in the ancient ceramics center of Tamba. 

Light gray clay, with some small white feldspar particles. Colors from kiln effects and ash deposits in the dark reddish brown to black range. Weight: 4.4 kg (9.8 lb). Height: 31 cm (12-1/4 in). Widths: top, 6.4 x 10.1 cm (2-1/2 x 4 in); widest, 21.5 cm (8-1/2 in); bottom, 17.5 x 19 cm (7 x 7-1/2 in). 

The base and any given cross-section of this are squarish. The piece itself has four walls. The positioning of the handle across the diagonal of the square reorients the piece, however. Viewed from the front or back, or the sides, each side is formed of two planes, with a seam running down the middle. 

This sits on a flat base; the sides of the base vary in length from 12.5 cm (5 in) to 14 cm (5-1/2 in). A flat scraping tool was used to make long, wide shallow indentations in the base. The artist’s sigil was incised into the base. The sides of the base rise outward at a 45-degree angle to a height of 1.3 cm (1/2 in). The four walls of the piece are long triangles, with the top lopped off. At the bottom each wall is about 15.3 cm (6 in) wide; at the lowest point of the opening, 25.4 cm (10 in) above the base, each is about 9.5 cm (3-3/4 in) wide; and at the top, the width is 7 cm (2-3/4 in). A long, vertical rib is positioned in the center of each wall, wider at the bottom and narrowing as it runs upward. The base of each rib is beveled upward at a 45-degree angle, continuing the movement of the sides of the base. These ribs continue as the sides of the chevrons at the top of the piece. The opening at the top is formed of evenly cut verticals and horizontals. It is a square, but again because of the positioning of the handle, it appears to be a diamond shape. The handle imitates the crosspiece at the top of a wooden bucket. It is 16/4 cm (6-1/2 in) wide. One end of the handle apparently became damaged after the firing, exposing the unaffected clay. The surface of this is rough, with some sharp edges at the seams joining the walls. 

Unglazed, with kiln effect colors in the reddish brown to black range. The blacker areas are stronger on one side, revealing the orientation of the piece in the kiln. All surfaces of the piece show kiln effects, except for the one end of the handle that was chipped after the firing. 

This came in wooden box, inscribed on the top by the artist, in two lines: 窯変桶形花入 /丹波正造 yōhen okegata hanaire / Tamba Tadashi zō (bucket-shaped vase with kiln effects / made by Tadashi of Tamba), followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red. Included in the box were a short printed biography and a dark blue wrapping cloth. 

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