Studio pottery is clay based pottery art work made by amateur or professional artists. These artists are generally referred to as a being a studio potter, specifically, one who is a modern artist or artisan, who either works alone or in a small group, producing unique items of pottery in small quantities. Typically all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.
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Tsujimura Shiro Uzukumaru Tsubo 2.900 $
A superb Uzukumaru tsubo by Tsujimura Shiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Shell marks, kutsuki, ash blasting. The piece is 7-3/4 inches (19.5 cm) tall, 6 inches (15.5 cm) diameter and in excellent condition.
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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Unusual Japanese Vase by Firstclass Potter Ando Minoru 4.950 $
A quite spectacular vase made in the form of a dark iron glazed Tokoname pot inside a shattered crucible by multi-talented Ando Minoru enclosed in the original signed wooden box.
Intentional or not Ando is not talking. The vase certainly exudes the Japanese aesthetic of lack of intention. The dark smooth iron clashes violently with the rough and decimated clay of the crucible, a very powerful statement. The vase is roughly 8-1/2 inches tall, the same diameter.
Ando was born 1927 in Aichi prefecture, Home of Seto. Starting in painting, which may explain his sense of drama and movement in his pottery, he was awarded at the 1957 Kokuga Kai National Painting exhibition, after which he moved into work at the Gifu City Ceramic Research Facility located to Gifu, in the heart of Mino country.
He opened his kiln in TeirinJi Temple in 1973, working as a multi-genre artist in ceramics, painting (both oil and Japanese) and calligraphy.
Five years later he opened a kiln in the Gifu city Ceramics Village. In 1985 he began travelling, incorporating influences from the various cultures into his unique sense of design. He is displayed annually in private exhibitions in Nagoya, Tokyo, and Osaka.
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Japanese Incredible Oribe Mizusashi by Famous Matsuzaki Ken Already sold
Nothing I can say can convey the rugged beauty locked up of this Oribe Mizusashi, signed and enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Matsuzaki Ken is one of the most important potters in Japan, born in Tokyo in 1950. He graduated from the Fine Arts Ceramic Department at Tamagawa University in 1972, and moved to Mashiko to take up an apprenticeship under Living National Treasure Shimaoka Tatsuzo, putting him in direct lineage with Mingei legend Hamada Shoji.
In 1978 he established is own kiln, Yu-Shin (Playful Spiri ), initially emulating the ordinary Mashiko-Mingei themes. However he could not be labeled so easily, and has sought expression in many forms and themes, including Oribe,Shino, Hakeme, Yakishime, Zogan and porcelain. He is widely exhibited both inside and outside Japan, including New York, Boston and England and including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Works by the artist are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Sackler Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cleveland Museum of Art, Israel Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ibaraki Prefectura.
This Mizusashi is a solitary piece of art.
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Amazing Large Vase by greatest Hamada Shoji
with Mark "Sho" (Pre 1920)
3.600 $
Reference
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
"When Hamada returned to Japan in 1923, after helping Leach to set up his pottery in St. Ives, he travelled via Europe. He arrived home in 1924 and from that date, he never signed another pot. The mark he used up to then was known as the Character Sho. I always thought this Sho was part of his name Shoji, but am not certain about that!
If there is a shell impression, this is not actually a potter's mark in the true sense and they are being very misleading in their description of "Hamada's trademark". Yes, he made pots which incidentally showed shell impressions because he used them as stilts instead of clay during salt firing, but they were part of the making process, not intentional marks.
Even so, if it is a Hamada pot and has the Sho mark, then it must pre-date 1924. Indeed, all his work at St. Ives had two marks: the Character Sho and the St. Ives SI monogram, so a single Hamada mark would actually pre-date 1920, when he left Japan to travel to England with Leach"
Janet Kaiser
Please compare the Sho-Character mark of Shoji Hamada with another item of him with the same mark from the Momoyama Gallery, where the original wooden box with signature is attached. It is undoubtable, that this vase is a rare item of Shoji Hamada from the time before 1920.
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