253. WATANABE Takuma, 1968­- , Bizen-ware drink server

253. WATANABE Takuma 渡邊琢磨, 1968­- , Bizen shuki   備前酒器  (Bizen-ware drink server), “Mirai no kaseki” ミライノカセキ (Future fossils) series, no. 151

 

For Watanabe, see item no. 231. 

Red clay, unglazed, with kiln effect colors in the dark reddish brown and dark gray colors. Weight: 292 g (10 oz). Height: 8.5 cm (3-3/8 in). Length: 15 cm (6 in). Width: 9 cm (3-5/8 in). 

This sits on a flat, circular base, 3.8 cm (1-1/2 in) in diameter. The center of the base is a shallow concavity. The artist’s sigil was incised into this area (see item 252 for the sigil). The body is egg-shaped with a katakuchi-style pouring spout. The egg is roughly 10.7 cm (4-1/4 in) long. The spout is located about three-fourths of the way up the body. As with other pieces in the Future Fossils series, the surface decoration copies features of old machinery. The surface is divided by faint lines into “plates” held together by screws. Protruding from the surface are molded switches, dials, conduits, braided cords, vents, and meters. A rectangular label inscribed “S 151” identifies this piece’s place in the series. The exterior texture is smooth; the interior has a grain like medium sandpaper. 

Fired unglazed. Most of the surface is a uniform dark gray. The bottom and the back side are a dark red. The piece was probably fired with the spout facing the heat and ash flow. 

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

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

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)

251. ATARASHI Manabu, 1973- , Iga-ware hanging vase

251.  ATARASHI Manabu 新学, 1973-  , Iga kakehanaire  伊賀掛花入  (Iga-ware hanging vase)

 

For Atarashi, see item no. 222.  To quote Robert Mangold, the owner of the gallery that sold this piece, “Intensely fired multiple times to achieve the bidoro glass puddles and landscape effects which define his aesthetic, the geometric works add a contemporary sensibility to the traditional Iga style and transcend the realm of utilitarian crafts breaking into the sculptural domain. His work has proven innovative and challenging to the norm, taking his father’s tradition into the 21st century." 

Light gray clay, with many very small feldspar pebbles. Fired unglazed. Surface colors and effects in the gray to black range, with patches of dark reddish brown hi-iro 火色. A few spots of vitrified ash glaze. Weight: 1260 g (2.8 lb). Height: 36.5 cm (14-1/4 in). Width: 12.5 cm (4-7/8 in). 

This is roughly triangular in cross-section. The back is flatter in the center and nearer the top, with the edges curving to meet the side seams. The front side is bisected by a rough, irregular spine running vertically slightly left of center. To the left of this spine the wall is flattish; to the right and beginning at the top, several areas have been scooped out to form shallow concavities. Towards the bottom of the front side, the spine becomes less prominent, disappearing altogether just above the bottom. Here the two sides join to form a convex swelling. The bottom has a jutting promontory on both sides, the left one more pronounced and longer. At each side of the top at the seams between the front and back (the widest point of the piece) is a pointed, triangular protuberance. The interior is very irregular; it extends to about 2.5 cm (an inch) above the center bottom. The hole at the top is a rough oval, measuring 3.8 x 2.5 cm (1-1/2 x 1 in). The surface is smoothish, with some rough patches. There is a small metal hook on the upper back side for hanging the piece. This was inserted through a hole in the wall of the vase. 

This was fired unglazed. The remains of the posts used to separate the piece from the kiln shelves suggests that this was positioned with the back side up during the firing. The back side received a coating of ash, leaving it a mottled gray and black in color. The concavities on the right side of the front are reddish brown in color (hi-iro effects). The rest of the front is again a mottled gray and black. There are a few vitrified areas on the front of the vase, with a few streams of melted ash glaze on the right side. Except around the top, the interior of the piece lacks kiln effects. 

This came in a wooden box, inscribed by the artist, in three lines:  伊賀 / 掛花入 / 新学  (Iga / kakehanaire / Atarashi Manabu;  Iga-ware / hanging vase / Atarashi Manabu), followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red. Included in the box were a light blue wrapping cloth, also stamped in red with the artist’s seal, and a short printed biography of the artist in both Japanese and English. 

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

250. FUJIMOTO Hide , 1954- , Shigaraki-ware sculpture, 塊 Katamari (“Mass”)

250.  FUJIMOTO Hide  藤本秀,  1954- , Shigaraki 信楽-ware sculpture, 塊 Katamari (“Mass”)
 

Fujimoto was born in 1954 in Shigaraki. From 1973, he worked in several potteries and industrial kilns, studying firing techniques and glazes. He established his own kiln, 雲居窯  (Kumoi kama), in the foothills above Shigaraki in 1995. Fujimoto is "inspired by the natural world around him, and the return to nature of the discarded and redundant remains of our civilization." He told Robert Mangold, the owner of the gallery from which I bought this piece, that it was influenced by pier blocks he had seen covered in moss half buried in the earth. For more on Fujimoto, consult his website:

Ceramic artist - Hide Fujimoto Official Site (jimdofree.com).

Light gray Shigaraki clay. Unglazed; all surface colors the result of kiln effects and natural ash glazing. Weight: 5.2 kg (11.3 lb). Height: 16.3 cm (6-1/2 in). Length: 23 cm (9 in). Width: 17.5 cm (6-3/4 in). 

This was formed from a solid brick of Shigaraki clay. It has roughly six sides, but each side has many surfaces, formed either of excavated areas or protrusions. The base is flat throughout most of its area but curves up to meet the back side at the rear. There are two spots on the bottom where the unaffected clay shows through. One of these has some incised lines that may be the artist’s sigil. Because of the shape of the bottom, the piece tilts forward. A large cavity was excavated on the top side. The left and right sides also have cavities. The top cavity is rough and irregular. The cavities on the sides are smoother and more regular, perhaps excavated using a chisel or similar tool. The surface texture is rough.

This was unglazed. In addition to the two unaffected areas on the bottom side, the back side also has a spot without kiln effects. There are a few areas colored red, but most of the surface shows colors in the gray to black ranges. The front and back sides have areas of vitrified natural-ash glazing. The bottom side has one of the green glass-like beads known as tambo no me. 

This came with a wooden box inscribed by Fujimoto in three lines: 信楽 / 塊 / 藤本秀,  Shigaraki  /  Katamari (“Mass”) / Fujimoto Hide, followed by his seal stamped in red. Included with the piece were an orange wrapping cloth, a short biography in English, and a statement in Japanese about the association between Shigaraki and pottery and Fujimoto’s approach to potting. 

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

 

249. WAKAO Toshisada, 1933- , Shino-ware incense container

249.  WAKAO Toshisada  若尾利貞,  1933- , Shino kōgō 志野香合 (Shino-ware incense container)

For Wakao, see item 248. 

Light tan clay, Shino glaze, with some white areas, but mostly a light brownish red, with decoration in a dark brown glaze; the shelf on the lower part, the outer side of the flange, and the interior of the upper part that rests on the shelf and abuts the flange were left unglazed. Weight: 80 g (2.3 oz). Height: 5.1 cm (2 in). Width: 5.1 cm (2 in). 

The overall shape resembles an upside-down acorn without the cap. This sits on a foot ring 3.8 cm (1-1/2 in) in diameter; the inside of the ring has been hollowed out to a depth of 0.3 cm (1/8 in). The ring has no exterior wall. Instead the outside walls of the piece rise in a continuous convex arc to the top. The walls of the lower part end 1.75 cm (5/8 in) above the base. At this point there is a horizontal shelf 0.5 cm (3/16 in) wide, with a vertical flange rising 0.75 cm (1/4 in) above the shelf. The upper part is ringed with horizontal grooves, perhaps remnants of clay coils. The upper part ends in a blunted peak at the center top. The piece is pitted and bumpy from the Shino glaze. 

This has a Shino glaze, mostly colored a light brownish red, but with some areas of white. Wakao used a brown glaze to decorate the outside in four places with grass-like designs. These continue across the divide between the upper and lower parts. 

This came with a wooden box, inscribed by Wakao in two lines: 志野   香合 /  利貞 Shino kōgō / Toshisada (Shino-ware incense container / Toshisada) , with the artist’s seal stamped in red. Included in the box were a short biography and two wrapping cloths. 

Purchased from Dai Ichi Arts, New York City, May 2024 (invoice, shipping label, card from owner).

248. WAKAO Toshisada, 1933- , Oribe-ware incense container

248. WAKAO Toshisada 若尾利貞, 1933- , Oribe kōgō 織部香合 (Oribe-ware incense box)
 

Wakao was born in Tajimi. After graduating from junior high school, he worked at a ceramics factory while studying Shino-ware on his own. He went independent in 1970. He is a recipient of the Katō Kōbei Award, the Mino Newcomer’s Award, and the New Craft Award, among other honors. He has been a participant and award-winner at the Chūbu Art Exhibition, Gifu Prefectural General Design Exhibition, Asahi Ceramics Exhibition, Japanese Traditional Crafts Exhibition, and the Chūnichi International Ceramics Exhibition. He has had solo exhibitions held at the Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Nagoya Matsuzakaya, and Tokyo Tsubogen, among other venues. He is a member of the Japan Kōgei Association.

Cream-colored clay, with Oribe green, brown, and cream glazes; the edges where the two halves meet are unglazed. Weight: 102 g (3.6 oz). Height: overall, 4.3 cm (1-3/4 in). Width: 6 cm (2-3/8 in).                

Bottom part: This sits on a foot ring 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in) in diameter and about 0.3 cm (1/8 in) high on both sides. Within the ring is the artist’s sigil written with a brush in brown glaze. Above the foot ring, the walls flare outward at about a 45-degree angle to meet the sides 0.5 cm (3/16 in) above the base. The walls rise in more or less a straight line to the top of the bottom part 1.8 cm (3/4 in) above the base; at this point the piece has a diameter of 3.2 cm (1-1/4 in). There is a horizontal shelf about 0.5 cm (3/16 in) wide on which the top part rests. At the inside edge of this shelf is a vertical flange 0.8 cm (5/16 in) high. The interior of this part mirrors the shape of the exterior walls. 

Top part. Overall, this part is 3.2 cm (1-1/8 in) high. The bottom edge is flush with the top edge of the bottom part; The walls are 0.5 cm (3/16 in) thick. Above this, the walls curve inward in a high convex arc to a flat circular area at the top 3.4 cm (1-1/4 in) in diameter. In the center of this is a roughly circular small button less than a centimeter (3/8 in) in diameter. The interior of this part mirrors the shape of the exterior. 

There are eight vertical grooves extending from the circle at the top of the upper part across the body of the piece to the lower edge of the walls. The texture of the exterior is bumpy; the interior is smooth. 

The circle at the top and the upper half of the top part were covered with the green Oribe glaze. Below this each groove was filled in with the brown Oribe glaze; between each of these lines Wakao used the brown glaze to draw an irregular vertical shape. Wakao also used this glaze to draw his sigil on the base. Other than the edges where the halves meet, the rest of the piece has a cream glaze. 

This came in a small wooden box inscribed by the artist in two lines: 織部香合 / 利貞 Oribe kōgō / Toshisada (Oribe incense container / Toshisada), followed by the artist’s seal stamped in red. Included in the box were a blue wrapping cloth, also stamped with the artist’s seal in red, and a short biography.

Purchased from Dai Ichi Arts in New York City in May 2024. (invoice, shipping label)