葛屋香合

I found this crunchy, barnacle encrusted little fellow hiding in plain sight, mixed among toy cars, old transistor radios and other bric-a-brac in the offerings of a general, second-hand dealer on the web. While that was interesting enough in the discovery, the fact of who, what, where and when was even more intriguing to me, obviously a Japanese Shigaraki kogo, made sometime prior to 1992 and by Kohyama Yasuhisa. For anyone who knows Kohyama’s work, the firing, well the surface is something of an anomaly considering his preference for quiet, restrained surface development but this little gem must have been somewhere where the fullest weight and ferocity of the firing came to bare as if laser focused on this diminutive and limited lump of clay formed into a traditional Japanese house complete with thatched roof (kuzuya-kogo, 葛屋香合).     

I should mention, sometimes when a piece like this comes along, I can’t help but be pleased as punch. First off, I love diminutive pieces, secondly, I couldn’t ask for a more intense surface and third it is by a potter who's work I truly admire and acquiring a piece just outside of the normal body of work rarely hurts my feelings. I am glad I made that one more click on the mouse to encounter this Kohyama Yasuhisa kogo, small or not, it has a large presence and an even longer impact with a surface that at least in my experience is not often encountered.

LESSONS IN PHOTOGRAPHY

I realize the title of this post is more than a bit misleading considering it should be more about this is what not to learn when taking photographs but admittedly, this (faux) gosu surface is a bear to get right. After waiting a week for some actual sunlight to help show the surface of this teabowl, I decided to wing it with my single 200watt tungsten bulb and hope for the best. To fill in some of the gaps, the bowl was made of porcelain and then had a thin white slip coarsely brushed over the main part of the bowl before having black slip trailed and finger-printed over the piece ala khaotique style. The glaze is my Ao+ which was developed to in many respects a faux gosu after the Kawai-mon staple. 

This particular teabowl ended up a bit hotter in temperature than usual which has created a nice effect where it has pulled down the intensity of the color around the mouth and created wonderful, rich drips around the base of the bowl which you can just see in this photo. As for the lessons in photography, perhaps I’ll get this figured out some day with multiple lights, reflecting umbrellas and whatever equipment I would need but for now the hold the floodlight and point and shot method will just have to suffice, I need to get a handle on this pottery thing before I move on to another pursuit.

WHEAT/ CHAFF

There is something that is just pure magic where Hirosaki Hiroya has based much of his work on Sung Dynasty hakuji, pure white porcelain where the simple, abstracted repoussé style floral design just sings across the surface. This particular vase has a few additional features that add to the overall presence of the vase form from the pieced foot ring to the double stepped mouth, both adding to the pot rather than distracting from its purity. Though much of Hirosaki’s work is quite simple in concept and execution, the skillful use of a strong, resonant form and design that is distilled to the least amount of detail is honestly about as complex as it gets. How does a potter create a pot that is aware of its every detail while having removed all the superfluous elements while maintaining a strong and long-term conversation with the viewer? I wish I could answer that question but this ability is what separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak and it is obvious that Hirosaki Hiroya knew exactly how to solve that conundrum.

MAGIC

Classic Nanban-oke style mizusashi with a twist, the pot surface is a yohen style glaze that shimmers and adds depth and volume to the form. Perhaps the real treat is when you remove the lacquer lid and peer into the reflective and mesmerizing interior, the water just adding to the atmosphere and mystery of the contents. This mizusashi was made by Fukumori Aya, wife of the yuteki and yohen specialist Fukumoro Morihiko, using a glaze he created and made use of to great effect over the years. Though I have seen several yuteki and yohen pieces by Fukumoro Aya, I think it is safe to say she is far better known for her painted, almost Kyoto style ceramics though having seen this mizusashi and a yuteki style chaire, I think it is quite safe to say, where ever she turns her attention, magic is likely to happen.

“EVER TRIED”

I won’t say this is a particularly exciting picture but it is what I am currently up to. Considering the time of year, the studio is a bit chilly and in the mid-50s and there aren’t a lot of orders so this tends to be the time I spend working on tests. First and foremost, I glazed up a handful of pots that needed to be glazed and set those aside and then began making up a group of 25 tests, some new and a few retests of older glazes with new materials. Of these tests, all will be put on stoneware, porcelain and small batch sandy clay pods to see what I get, in turn most of these will be tested with the group of existing glazes I use as well as trying out the new glazes in various combos, this process yields the greatest variety if not successes, that is statistically (?) possible.    

As cliché as this may sound, this has been my pathway to discovery; “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett

SPACE²

Beside the concept of how pottery is packed and shipped, I have to admit, I am always curious about how and where collector’s store their collections. Part of this interest is the fact that I have seen collections that have hundreds, even thousands of pots wondering just where are all those empty wood boxes? I suspect for most, having a handful of pots doesn’t really lead to taking up large portions of living space but when you get to several hundred or many multiples of that amount, I suspect some clever storage options are needed. Coupled with the ceramic occupation is that many decide to display all of their collections leading to the necessity of have space to have pottery out and more space for the wood storage boxes (space²). Our display/ storage strategy is simple, rotate the collection with only a small group of pots out at any given moment which can make a smaller collection seem more grand in scale.     

In one visit to NYC and seeing a rather fine collection, the exterior of the apartment walls, mostly windows were fitted with cabinet style shelves, this concealed the boxes and allowed for display on the tops of the running surfaces. I was later informed that there was actually an adjoining apartment that served as more storage and display areas, must be nice!     

Illustrated is a recent encounter of one collector’s answer to storage, between a hallway and a bedroom, which has become a sitting room of sorts, the walls have recessed, open shelves making for perfect storage of boxed pottery. Composed of a range of types, sizes and forms, the shelves are just out of the way as you move past them but perfect for holding quite a few pieces all with their hakogaki facing away from the lighting and any sun that finds its way there. I am sure there are quite a few options for storage, some unique, many redundant at least in concept but all a necessary consideration for every Japanese pottery collector.  

“The more storage you have, the more stuff you accumulate.”  Alexis Stewart

INTRIGUED

I have to admit, there are times when what I become focused on will, even surprise me. I wanted to share this crazy bowl I bought by Kobayashi Bunichi and as you may guess it not my normal type of bowl. I think I was in part inspired to be curious because of the surrounding facts; this was previously exhibited at a show in Mino Prefecture, won an award for being the best "utsushimono" copy (Ko-Seto), is in a catalogue and came with a personal letter from the potter as well as a full-page newspaper article which shows this chawan among others. Last and perhaps least was the original extravagant price tag, this mention may be a bit crass, though I was intrigued by the bowl, this helped pushed me over the edge to acquire it.     

Despite the real bargain nature of the piece, in hand I can say I am very pleased with it as despite being a bit outside of my norms, it has everything I look for in a chawan, function meets aesthetics. There is an authenticity to the pot, the throwing, trimming and casual glazing are all simple and direct not to mention it is a beast at 15.8cm, just my size of bowl! The surface variations and running glaze animates the piece  and the rough cuts around the foot, opening the clay texture and terminating in a modest sized kodai acts as the perfect pedestal for this conical form. All in all, I have no complaints and in fact, that is about the most I can ask for. On a side note, should also mention, the wood box is a class act as well?

 

HNY

The past week here has been rather a crazy weather period; early snow and cold here one day, then rain, then freezing rain, then more snow until we are frozen into lock-down at our home. We are about 100 yards uphill, a steep driveway between us and freedom but luckily after all this time living here we have learned to plan according with supplies and DVDs at our disposal and not a single package on the horizon. Now we wait until all this current storm passes and have our path to liberation plowed!  At any rate, have a very Happy New Year one and all!

“Out our bedroom window

The landscape frozen

The footprints of deer”

PLANS BEST MADE

 

Today was just one of those Mondays, I had plans, things to be thrown, glaze made and some odds and ends. At exactly 7:36am that all changed, the explosion off in the distance of a transformer blowing and the repeated cracks and thuds of trees falling all around and, in that instant, we were without power. Plans changed, no studio work which gave me a few extra moments here and there to take a few pictures. As you can see in the photos the trees, snow and the whole region is covered in an inch of ice, even the currently vacant bird’s nest, trapping us at the end of a 100-yard, uphill driveway in our house for the day and possibly several. The power as you may have surmised has come back on, the house is at 56 degrees and now climbing again. With any luck I can get several small covered jars and a group of soup bowls made tomorrow but with another snow storm now at the front door, maybe making plans isn’t all it's cracked up to be.

SENSIBILITY

A pottery collector friend of mine who only collects American pots asked me recently what it is about Japanese pots that has seduced away from more local pieces. I have thought about this for quite some time and I think for me there is a visual and visceral texture and authenticity to the pieces that like, they use tradition as a springboard and many rarely stray too far from that ideal but just enough to give voice to the clay which I should also note can be said for wide swaths of Western pottery. It is not that Japanese pottery is exotic but rather elemental and honest with dashes of panache, subtlety and rusticity that ends up being conversant to my sensibility, that creates an emotional resonance that I am truly captivated by.  

Illustrated is one of those pieces, totemic in presence and posture and all about surface and texture. Made by Nagaoka Masami, this appears to be hewn out of clay with direct and forceful facets and rough impact marks created by paddling. The two tiers appear like a medieval tower, fired in the path of an angry yet benevolent fire creating a surface of runny ash coating the surface creating a sense of wetness that goes on forever. This is exactly the type of work that drew me Japanese pottery though I do have to admit, Arakawa and Kawai Kanjiro had quite some magnetic attraction as well. I could go on but I think it is easy to see how I got here despite a love for most things made out of clay that show a well-conceived combination of form, texture, surface and concept, East or West.