252. WATANABE Takuma , 1968- , Bizen-ware sake cup

252.  WATANABE Takuma 渡邊琢磨, 1968- , Bizen sake-nomi  備前酒呑   (Bizen-ware sake cup)

For Watanabe, see item no. 231. 

Dark gray clay. Unglazed; surface colors in dark mahogany reds, grays, and black, with some vitrified natural ash glazing on the exterior. Weight: 110 g (4 oz). Height: 5 cm (2 in). Width: 6 cm (2-3/8 in). 

This sits on a roughly circular foot ring, 4.3 cm (1-3/4 in) in diameter and about 0.15 cm (1/16 in) high on the exterior. The interior of the foot ring was hollowed out to a depth of around 0.3 cm (1/8 in). Above the foot ring, the base juts out at about a 45-degree angle to the width of the cup. The artist’s sigil, |+<, was incised into this area of the cup. The proper orientation of the mark isn’t clear, but it appears from the buildup of the clay at the ends of the lines and its placement that it is to be viewed either in the way shown above or with the long line as the base. The walls rise in more or less straight lines, curving slightly inward at the rim. The exterior walls were shaped in a series of vertical panels. Each panel is decorated, either with carved geometric shapes in extremely shallow relief or with shallow striations. The interior mirrors the shape of the exterior. The surface is fairly smooth, with the exception of the rim, which is rather rough for a piece of this nature. 

This was fired unglazed. The surface colors are the results of kiln effects. Much of the exterior surface is covered with a sheen of vitrified natural ash glazing. 

This came in a wooden box, inscribed by Watanabe in two lines: 備前酒呑 / 琢磨 Bizen sake-nomi / Takuma (Bizen-ware sake cup / Takuma), followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red (the seal form of 琢). Included in the box were a dark blue wrapping cloth and a potted biography of the artist. 

This piece is not part of Watanabe’s Future Fossils series, but its surface decorations share many characteristics with those found on the pieces in that series. 

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