Spectacular Oribe Vase by Famous Tsukamoto Haruhiko     900 $

Try describing this incredible Vase is not difficult: spectacular is all that comes to mind.

This huge vase is covered in glassy Oribe green glaze by the important Mino Ware master potter Tsukamoto Haruhiko, born in Mino in 1959.His work, reflects a certain, more modern departure from the established tradition, without compromising the quality of its craft and design.

Tsukamoto Haruhiko studying with Nonaka Shunsei and Asai Reiji. He struck out on his own in 1985 and since then he has became a popular and rising star potter.

Tsukamoto is widely exhibited in Japan and internationally and has been well published in both catalogues and books also in Japan and internationally.

He has won a number of awards including the Grand Prix (1996) at the Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibit. The vase is signed and enclosed in the original signed and stamped wooden box.

Size: 29,7 cm x 6,6 cm x 14,8 cm.

Perfect Condition.

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RARE Mint UZUKUMARU TSUBO Shigaraki-Ware JAR Tsujimura Shiro        3900 $       sold

Very rare example of museum-quality shigaragki-ware by Tsujimura Shiro. This item was originally given as a gift from the artist to a secret, wealthy benefactor upon the Grand Opening of the famed Miho Museum near Kyoto, Japan, in 1997.

Some time later we bought it from this famous benefactor, and since then it is in our collection.

This is a very rare and highly collectible item, and it is entirely authentic with an absolutely perfect provenance. In fact, the only other example that I could locate and happens to share the same provenance now resides in the permanent collection of the British Museum!

As you can see in the photographs, this auction includes the shigaragki-ware jar (approximately 8" by 7"), the signed paulownia storage box and furoshiki wrap. All completely authentic and original, and all in mint, museum-quality condition (obviously: any perceived "imperfections" in an item of this type are entirely intentional and crafted by the Master artist himself). 

This item is in what I honestly believe to be in exactly the same condition as it was on the day it was presented at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. In other words: completely mint! However, the very nature of Shikagari-ware pottery is very rustic and (seemingly) rough -- to untrained eyes, this craftsmanship might even appear crude, but is actually entirely intentional and potent with symbolism and meaning.

Endorsed by the renown Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan; this piece will be the crowning treasure in your private collection.

Shiro Tsujimura was born in 1947, in the town of Gose, Nara prefecture, Japan. His first love was oil painting and when he was 18 years old, he aspired to become a painter. For a short time, he considered becoming a Zen monk, and entered a monastery and underwent formal training.  During that time he had a dramatic encounter with a historic Ido teabowl.The teabowl grabbed his heart, and redirected his life: Shiro Tsujimura decided to become a potter, at the young age of 22.

8 years later, after moving back to his hometown and teaching himself in the discipline of clay, Shiro Tsujimura had his first exhibition at his own residence. He has produced a high quality body of work and is recognized in Japan and abroad.

Shiro Tsujimura defies working in set categories, and he makes Ido, Kohiki, Oku Gorai, Shigaraki, Iga, Shino, Kuro Oribe and Setoguro style pots with amazing skill and fierce intensity.

It appears that Shiro Tsujimura works in traditional Japanese ceramics genres, but at the same time he is one of the rare artists who is not restricted by them. The way that he touches clay speaks directly to my core. If you have a chance to see his work in person, you will see what I mean.

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Shigaraki Tsubo by Koyama Kiyoko - very, very valuable - must have!!!     3.200 $      sold

This is the house of the famous potter Koyama Kiyoko. Her life is now the basis of a new film titled "Hi-Bi" (starring Yuko Tanaka and directed by Banmei Takahashi), which opens nationwide in January 2010.

Koyama was born in 1935 in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, and went to work in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture, when she was just 18 to learn the art of pottery decoration. She established her own kiln some years later, and here's where her story begins. First her husband -- also a potter -- taunts her and tells her she can't fire an anagama properly. He then leaves with a younger apprentice, and Koyama is on her own with two young children. They are constantly in a state of poverty, and often Koyama's teacher stops by to check to see if the electricity has been left on, or not. Yet she lives for clay and although her kids ask her if she likes to be bimbo (penniless), they see she has no other choice; clay is in her blood.

The film shows the long, long hours necessary to make the pots. Koyama did this in solitude with less than favorable results. Her kids question her when she smashes pots freshly unloaded from the kiln: "These are fine," they say. "Why are you doing this?" For an answer she shows them an ancient shard, plucked from behind the kiln roof and one that sparkles with the natural shizen-yu (ash glaze); she will settle for nothing less. She increases the length of the firings, until a full two weeks have passed -- quite an extraordinary feat.

The results? Magical, with intense rivulets of shizen-yu gracing the pots; she lets out an earth-shattering shout of triumph: "Yoosha!"This is an old house that used to be behind my wifes parents house. Damn spooky. It has been torn down since this video was shot.

Kiyoko Koyama

What are the colours of natural glaze?
The green of the Shigaraki mountains; the azure blue of the Daido River.
“I dig my clay out of the mountains of Shigaraki and dry the raw clay in the open air for quite a few day. Then I remove the many stones in the clay. knead it , and leave it to mature for a number of years. Although I like to maintain a flavour of Kamakura and Muromachi-period pottery, my forms are always new and original. Firing is carried out in the traditional way, leaving the pieces in the Kiln for about two weeks. For fuel I use large quantities of various woods including pine ,chestnut and oak. I do not add a single drop of glaze. The pots are fired until the last possible moment when they are about to crumble in the heat; this long confrontation with the flames is a battle of strength and willpower.”
From ’My Natural Glazes ’by Kiyoko Koyama
1. Reference:’ I Love Pottery ’ Kiyoko Koyama ,Kokoku to Bunka(The Lake Country and its Culture)vol.40(1987).
Natural glaze :the natural effects of wood-ash settling on the pots during firing.

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Kuro Bizen Tokkuri Sake Flask by Masao Akiya          450 $

Only one of a kind - fantastic kuro bizen tokkuri with unusual form by famous potter Masao Akiye.

He was born in Saitama near Tokyo in 1968.

After he studied in the Tokyo Institute and Art University, he began his career as a 'professional' Bizen potter in the kiln in Bizen City.

After having studied under Isezaki Jun, Bizen Living National Treasure for 10 years, he founded his anagama kiln in 2008.

His work won already many important awards, the Tanabe-Museum 'Chanoyunozoukei exhibition' price, awards at Okayama Prefecture Art Exhibition, China Branch Exhibition and many others.

Size:

Height 12,1 cm.

Width 8,9 cm x 14,4 cm.

Shipping included

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