Catalog: Artists (1022)

White blossoms decorate a scattering of branches on the surface of this footed sweets dish by Kondo Yutaka enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled FunKa Daizara. It is 8 inches (21 cm) diameter, 3 inches (8 cm) tall and is in excellent condition. The deeply impressed white patterns are striking against black.
Kondo Yutaka (1932-1983) was born into a traditional pottery family in Kyoto. He studied under Living National Treasures Kondo Yuzo and Tomimoto Kenkichi at the Kyoto Municipal University of Art, graduating in 1957. That same year his work was accepted into the New Masters of Crafts Exhibition (Shin-takumi Kogeikai Ten). From 1962-63 he traveled in the US and lectured at Indiana University with Karl Martz. Returning to Japan he was granted a position at his Alma Matter, where he would continue to teach for the rest of his life, while making frequent research trips abroad to South and Central Asia, where he would master the T’zu Chou techniques expressed in these works. He twice received the Mayors prize at the Kyoten Exhibition, was awarded at the Asahi Togeiten, and is recipient of the coveted JCS award in 1967. The following year would see his work displayed at the New Generation of Ceramics Exhibition held at the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art. In 1985 a posthumous exhibition was held honoring his life's work at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. Work by the artist is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Musée Tomo, Tokyo and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London among others. For more on this important artist see the book Kondo Yutaka: The Transformation of a Traditional Kyoto Family (2010)

A beautiful example of Oni Shino by world famous Tsukigata Nahiko enclosed in a wooden box signed by his student Ayukai Kogetsu. Wild glazing and a dark burn on one side define the work, showing reason for this artists great demand. Signed on the base it is 4-1/2 inches (11.5 cm) diameter, 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
Tsukigata Nahiko (1923-2006) was not only an accomplished ceramic artist, but also a painter, calligrapher, sculptor and musician. Born in Niigata prefecture, he was at Waseda University in 1941 when he was summarily drafted into the Army. After the war he attended the Arts course of Nippon Daigaku University and was struck by the works of Living National Treasure Arakawa Toyozo, to whom he apprenticed in the arts of Shino and took his mentors work to a new level. Like all art, his was alive and always evolving. Starting with the replication and research of Momoyama techniques to the culmination of his efforts in Oni-shino, Nahiko has taken Shino beyond all others. It was not an eas road, for the first 15 years he worked for a ballet school, spent time as a recluse priest at Myoanji temple, and wandered the country playing the shakuhachi. It was a time of great change in Japan, starvation was rampant immediately after the war and supporting oneself through the little known art of Shino-yaki was difficult. However he persevered, along with Toyozo, Kato Juuemon, Kato Kohei and others, to bring Shino to the forefront of ceramic arts. Heavily prized domestically and abroad in his lifetime, his low output and unique quality make his work a must have for collectors. Ayukai Kogetsu was a female artist from Miyagi prefecture who became a student and follower of Tsukigata in 1979. She currently takes part in calligraphy and ceramic exhibitions throughout Japan.

A mischievous bowl covered in dense ash by the late master Furutani Michio (1946-2000) enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The ash is so thick as to almost pacify the ragged clay surface; its resonant peaks still visible underneath where the clay is roughest. Inside dark charring scars the back of the bowl where flame licked the surface, and rivulets of crusty green vein the gray skin. The bowl is almost 9 inches (22 cm) diameter, over 3 inches (8 cm) to the rim. Three crispy spurs are visible from within, with three more discs of raw earth circling the foot ring. The artists signature is visible along the footring, on back of the bowl. Furutani Michio is one of the Gods of Shigaraki, an artist who wrote the book on Anagama kilns, and one of the more influential artists of the second half of the 20th century. He was born in Shigaraki; graduating the Konan High School of industrial Arts, he moved to further his studies (like so many great artist before him, Kanjiro, Hamada…) at the Kyoto Institute of Industrial Arts in 1964. After breaking out on his own, he started by building an Anagama in Shigaraki in 1970, the first since the middle ages. He was a true pioneer, reviving the tradition and going on to build over thirty kilns over the next thirty years. No other artist has shown such singular dedication to a firing technique. He has been featured in the Nihon Dento Kogei Ten (Japanese Traditional Crafts Exhibition), Nihon Togei Ten (Japanese Ceramic Exhibition) and the Chunichi Kokusai Togei Ten among others. He passed away at the peak of his career. For more on this artists contributions see his book Anagama – Building Kilns and Firing.

The glaze on this sculpted form by The Bear of Echizen Kumano Kuroemon (also Kurouemon) is covered in the most fantastic crustations of glaze. Thick white over scarred red over shatterd black on an unconventional shape the artist has titled marukawara (round tile). It has Tomo everything, Artists history, wrapping cloth, with his ubiquitous calligraphy all over the signed box. The piece is 29 x 17 x 8 cm (11-1/2 x 6-1/2 x 3 inches) and is in perfect condition.
A ceramic madman, oil painter and recluse, Kuroemon is as eccentric as his pottery predicts. Born in Fukui prefecture in 1955 Kroemon was a painter from youth, he began his studies under Fujita Jurouemon in 1976, and moved to study also under Toda Soshiro. Invited to the Soviet Union he spent time there and in Sakhalin in the 80s, returning to Japan to build his own kiln in 1987. He was the feature of a major exhibition in Germany in 2004, butaside from a few small exhibitions held in Japan (which quckly sell out) he remains a huble artist holed up in his mountain hermitage and works by him are not easy to acquire, with guinomi selling at 1000 dollars.

A fine Nerikomi work by Living National Treasure Matsui Kosei (1927-2003) enclosed in the original signed and stamped wooden box. The surface has a soft sheen, like the effect of being carved from gray marble. It measures 17 x 12 x 3 inches (43 x 30.6 x 7 cm), in perfect condition. Matsui was born in 1927, beginning his ceramic studies in 1946. In 1957, he became a priest at the Getsusoji Temple, where in 1960 he built a kiln so he could research traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean ceramics. Subsequently, he became famous for neriage (designs in colored clays mixed together), based on Tang Dynasty Chinese techniques. In 1993, he was declared a Living National Treasure for his efforts in Neriage.

A boxed set of three bowls titled Sanyu-chawan (The Three Friends), each enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes wrapped in signed shifuku by Nakazato Shigetoshi (E-karatsu), Yamato Yasuo (Hagi) and Hayashi Kotaro (Shino). Each is a masterpiece by the brightest stars of their generation, Kotaro, the light of Shino, Shigetoshi, who worked tirelessly to revive ancient Karatsu traditions, and Yasuo, who almost single-handedly brought Hagi into the modern era.
The Karatsu bowl is 13cm (5 inches) diameter, 8 cm (3 inches) tall.
The Shino bowl is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 10 cm (4 inches) tall and comes, as mentioned above in the original signed cloth with a drawing of the bowl on the cloth by the artist as well.
TheHagi bowl is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 8.5 cm (3-1/2 inches) tall.
All are in perfect condition.
Nakazato Shigetoshi was born in 1930 the third son of Living National Treasure Tarouemon XII (Muan) of Karatsu fame. He was first exhibited at the Nitten National Exhibition in 1952, and received the Matsuzakaya prize at the Modern Ceramics Exhibit 4 years later, the first of a great many awards culminating in the Saga Prefectural Cultural Award in 1985 given not lightly for his lifetime endeavors. He can be found in the British Museum among others.
Hayashi Kotaro (1940-1981) was born in Gifu prefecture, and graduated the prefectural ceramic facility. He was displayed at the Nihon Dento Kogei Ten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition), Asahi Togei Ten Ceramics Exhibition and Chunichi Kokusai Togeiten among others. He was called the hope of Mino ceramics, but that hope was shattered when he died at the young age of 41 when his genius was just coming to fruition. Great fortune for the rest of the world, he had passed on his knowledge to younger brother Hayashi Shotaro, before taking leave of this life.
It is likely no collector of Hagi will need an introduction to this innovative artist. Yamato Yasuo was born in 1933 to a long line of Hagi potters. He learned under his father Harunobu and grandfather Shoroku. One of the first to challenge many traditions associated with Hagi Yaki. He was displayed with Sodeisha, Kofukai, the Nitten, Nihon Dento Togei Ten, Nihon Togei Ten among many others. His list of prizes is most impressive and much too long to list and his influence on the world of Hagi pottery will likely be the source of a thesis someday in the not too distant future! He has been named an important cultural asset of Yamaguchi Prefecture (ken Juyo Mukei Bunkazai) and is held in the collection of the British Museum and Morikami among many others.

An early piece from the Mudai series by Takiguchi Kazuo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Unlike his later works which featured stone-like glazes, this glaze is soft and crinkled on the surface, like an undersea life form. It is 15-1/2 x 8 x 10 inches (39 x 20.5 x 25 cm) and is in excellent condition. Kazuo is an exceedingly sought after Kyoto artist, one of the heirs of the original Sodeisha movement. Born in 1953, he studied economics at Doshisha Univesity while making a brief sojourn into the studio of Kiyomizu Rokubei. However it was later under Yagi Kazuo at the Kyoto University of Art that he would begin to find his feet in the mud. He then went abroad to study at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1982. The awards began rolling in in 1985, with prizes at the Nihon Togei Ten National Ceramics Exhibition and the Nihon Shin Kogei Ten New Crafts Exhibition. The following year was the Chunichi Kokusai Togei Ten and Kyoto Prefectural Arts and Crafts Association Exhibition. From there the list grows exponentially, including the JCS award, one of the most coveted prizes of them all. And he has been collected by a numbe of important institutions. According to a description from the V&A Museum in London:
For Takiguchi Kazuo, the young Kyoto-based maker of the large stoneware vessel, the development of a personal sculptural idiom has been closely associated with the pioneering of a particular method of hand-building.
The technique involves preparing a large sheet of extremely thin clay that is then folded and joined in a dynamic sequence of movements into a structure immediately resembling that of the intended final form. In the mid-1980s, when Takiguchi first used the technique, he lifted the clay up from the floor. Because this limited him to rather box-like shapes he went on to develop a way of draping the clay over moulds made from loosely assembled components and making his forms upside down. The new method allowed him to achieve the greater sense of fullness that he sought. At the same time the possibility of rearranging the components of the moulds allowed him to experiment with a much wider range of shapes than before. Having made a basic form, Takiguchi uses a number of secondary techniques to give it definition and character. These include pushing the walls out from the inside, compressing them from the outside, and cutting and joining, sometimes with the addition or removal of segments of clay.
Takiguchi's exploration of formal issues of shape, colour and texture through the making of individual works has been accompanied by his growing interest in the relationship between his sculptures and the surroundings in which they are displayed. When he is preparing for an exhibition he begins by making an exhaustive study of the venue using sketches, photographs and videos. It is only then that he starts to make any work. He develops his forms with the aim of creating an environment in which sculptures and surroundings are integrated into a single whole. The nature of a given series of work is determined by the process of planning for a particular exhibition and the total installation, usually incorporating an arrangement of props especially prepared for the occasion, is presented as an artistic statement in its own right.

Pale clay baked red with a dusting of natural ash glaze and small streaming rivulets complimenting the undulating ribbons billowing pell-mell from the top of this odd shaped sculptural vase by Kiyomizu Rokubei VII (1922-2006) enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The piece is 9 inches (23.5 cm) tall, 7-1/2 inches (19 cm) wide and in excellent condition. The Kiyomizu family potters managed one of the most productive workshops in Kyoto’s Gojozaka district from the second half of the Edo period. From the Meiji they began producing tableware for export and special pieces for government-sponsored exhibitions under Rokubei V. The workshop declined after World War II but was revived by Kiyomizu Rokubei VII, an adopted artist from Aichi prefecture. A graduate of the Tokyo University of Fine Art, he was a trained sculptor specializing in, in addition to clay, media like metal, glass, wood, paper and photography. Rokubei studied in Italy from the 1969-1970, and was a common contributor to the Nitten (under the name Hiroshi) Receiving the Hokuto-sho prize there and later serving on the selection committee. He is also well known for sculptures. He succeeded the family name in 1987 and also used the name Kyubei. Kiyomizu Rokubei VIII, is now head of the kiln. For more on this important artist see Contemporry Clay, Japanese Ceramics for the New Century by Joe Earle, ISBN O-87846-696-7.

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.
Tsujimura Shiro was born in Nara in 1947, and began his steps into the art world as an oil painter. While living at a Buddhist temple he experienced a profound connection with a Korean Tea Bowl, and began potting. He is highly acclaimed and somewhat reclusive, avoiding the public spectacles often needed to make one in Japan.

A superb sculptural work of horizontal facets stacked upon each other in twisting obelisk by Mashiko based potter Matsuzaki Ken enclosed in the original signed wooden box. This is a masterpiece by this artist. It is 17 inches (43 cm) tall, 8 x 8-1/2 inches (20 x 21 cm) and in excellent condition. An identical shape is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and published in the book “Contemporary Clay, Japanese Ceramics for the New Centruy” by Joe Earle.
Matsuzaki Ken was born in Tokyo in 1950, and grew up in that dynamic post war era where tradition and modernity were at constant loggerheads. He graduated Tamagawa University in 1972, and moved to Mashiko to take up an apprenticeship under (to be) Living National Treasure Shimaoka Tatsuzo; putting him in direct lineage with Mingei legend Hamada Shoji. In 1978 he established the Yushin kiln, 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 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、Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cleveland Museum of Art, Israel Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ibaraki Prefectural Museum and Mashiko Ceramic Museum as well as any number of other important public and private collections. See also the book “Ken Matsuzaki, Burning Tradition” (2008).

A sometsuke vase titled Time and Space by Kondo Takahiro published in the retrospective hard cover book “Kondo Takahiro ‘91-‘99” and enclosed in the original signed wooden box with exhibitions labels attached. It is 21 x 14 x 17 cm (8 x 5-1/2 x 7 inches). This piece was used as the cover of the book which is included with the sale.
Takahiro (b. 1958) was born the grandson of Living National Treasure Kondo Yuzo. However he graduated Hosei University not with a degree in sculpture or crafts, but in Literature. From there he studied at the Kyoto Prefectural Technical Institute of Ceramics, followed by a year at the Kyoto Municipal Institute of Industrial Research. 15 years later he would spend a year in Edinburgh studying glass making, and with this combination of skills, was born the silver mist series for which he is so highly acclaimed. Work by him is held in Museums throughout the world, including the National Museum of Scotland, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Museum of Arts & Design, New York, Spencer Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Art Gallery NSW, Sydney, Hamilton Art Gallery, Australia, Miho Museum. National Gallery of Victoria, Paramita Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki, and The São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil among others. Without a doubt one of the most important contemporary artists in Japan today. For more see Celestial Ceramics: the Art of Kondo Takahiro (2002)

A superb example of the work of Kimura Morinobu enclosed in the original sgned wooden box. The cream colored crackle glaze is speckeld with flecks of iron an ishihaze with five Zen circles around the circumference, subtly calling to mind the Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi). The deep crevaces in the glaze and heafty load of the bowl are a pleasure to behold. It is 5 inches (13 cm) diameter, 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) tall and in fine condition. Morinobu (b. 1932) was one of the born into a pottery family in Kyotos Higashiyama pottery district. He attended the Kyoto Municipal School of Art graduating from the sculpture division, and entered the Kyoto Ceramic Research Facility, the stomping grounds of so many of the brightest talents in modern Japanese Pottery. After apprenticing under bothhis brother, Morikazu, and Living National Treasure Shimizu Uichi, he established his own kiln in 1967. Although his list of exhibitions is much too long to put down here, he was named an intangible Cultural Property (Mukei Bunkazai) of Kyoto Prefecture in 1992. Works by the artist are held in the Kyoto National Museum among others.

A set of five Ginsai (silver decorated) Mukozuke bowls by Kyoto artist Morino Taimei enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The blue is his signature color, silver and gold wavelets surrounding the silver basin. Striking, at the same time complimentary, everything we have come to expect from this artist. Each bowl is roughly 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) diameter and in perfect condition. The box as well is like new. Taimei was born in Kyoto in 1934, and was first accepted into the Nitten National Exhibition at a relatively young age in 1957 (a year before graduating the Kyoto Municipal University of Fine Art!). In 1960 he received the prestigious Hokutosho prize at the same National Exhibition. In the early 60s he worked as a guest professor at the University of Chicago. Upon his return to Japan his career began to lift off with a second Hokutosho Prize at the Nitten, followed by The governors prize and others at the Gendai Kogei Ten (Modern National Crafts Exhibition). He was subsequently selected for display at the Kyoto and Tokyo National Museums in 1972 and was accepted into the first Nihon Togei Ten that same year. Since his list of exhibitions and prizes has continued to grow, with subsequent selections in the Tokyo and Kyoto museums of Art, as well as exhibitions in Paris, Italy, America, Canada, Denmark and others. In 2007 he received the Japan Art Academy Prize, an award to a work of art similar in weight to the bestowing of Living National Treasure to an artist. This puts the artist in a small club, rare and important. For more information on the artist see Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, Fired with Passion by (Lurie/Chan, 2006) or the recent exhibition of works titled Generosity in Clay from the Natalie Fitz-gerald Collection.

This piece is almost identical to the work submitted by the artist to the 7th Nihon Dento Kogei Ten in 1983 (featured as item number 116 in the catalog for that year) and indeed, shares the title Hi-iro In-mon Tsubo (Flame-Colored Stamp-Patterned Tsubo). It measures 34 cm (13-1/2 inches) diameter, 29.5 cm (12 inches) tall and is in excellent condition.
Kanzaki Muneaki (b 1949) is the fourth generation head of the traditional Mokusen Kiln in Koga, Shigaraki. His works have been exhibited at the Nihon Dento Kogei Ten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition), Nihon Togeiten (National Ceramics Exhibition), Asahi Togeiten Asahi Ceramics Exhibition) and Chunichi Kokusai Togeiten (Chunichi International Exhibition) among many others.

Mottled blue in thick textured drips run down the sides over ashen glaze on this 4 eared Tsubo by Sakuchi Ensen enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The thickness of the drips adds a tactile sense to this piece, compelling the hands to reach out and touch. It is 11-1/2 inches (29.5 cm) tall 9 inches (23 cm) diameter and in fine condition. The box lid is stained.
Sakuchi Ensen (B. 1922) began on the path of the potter in 1946, searching to create something unusual in the hils of Okayama. His research led him to create this highly decorative yet wildly natural glaze he came to call Hishhoku Nanban Yaki.

A truly Massive chozara Oribe Platter by important potter Ando Hidetake (b. 1938) enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Relying entirely on sculptural presentation, the interior is devoid of any decoration, the heavily sculpted basin simply coated with glassy-green oribe glaze. Deep grooves have been cut from the slab of clay, the edges torn and ragged with dollops of green dripping from the base. On the underside in dark iron is the large character Hi (the first character in the artists name) inside an earthen cartouche. The dish is 33 x 15-1/2 x 2-3/4 inches (84 x 39 x 7 cm) and in excellent condition. It is very heavy, over 15 kilograms with the box, and will require special shipping considerations (cost of shipping is separate from item price). Hidetake was born third generation into a Mino pottery family in Gifu prefecture in 1938. He began an apprenticeship under Kato Tokuro in 1960. A testament to his skill, he was accepted for the first time four years later into the National Traditional Arts and Crafts Exhibition (Nihon Dento Kogei Ten), and followed that by taking governors prize at the Asahi Ceramics exhibition in 1970, and acceptance into the Japanese National Ceramics Exhibition (Nihon Togei Ten) in 1971; since he has displayed often with all of these important events. One of a small group of potters credited with the revival of Shino, he was named an Important Prefectural Cultural Property in 2003 (Gifu-Ken Juyo Mukei Bunkazai, the prefectural version of the Living National Treasure). Due to size the cost of shipping will be assessed separately from the list price.

The sides are scorched from flame on this large, flattened ball form tsubo by Koie Ryoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The raw Shigaraki earth is scored with strikes from a paddle and deep gouges from the artist fingers. The Tsubo is roughly 8 inches (20.5 cm) tall, the same diameter. Born in Tokoname, 1938, Ryoji graduated the Tokoname industrial school and moved on to work at the City Ceramic Research Facility. In 1966 he established his own studio. Largely displayed and prized, he was most recently awarded the Japan Ceramic Society Gold Award in 2009, the most prestigious of pottery prizes in Japan.

A most extraordinary glaze like green velvet covers this tall bottle form vase by modern Japanese pottery master Imai Masayuki enclosed in the original signed wooden box dating circa 1970. The long tapering from is expertly rolled at the mouth, the soft absorbent textured glaze lying perfectly smooth over all. The hada, or feeling of the surface is unlike any I have ever seen, and a drop of water is instantly absorbed by the porous surface. The vase is 16 inches (45 cm) tall and in excellent condition. Imai was born in Osaka in 1930 and studied the plastic arts under Kusube Yaichi of Kyoto, the city he chose to make home. He has been a long standing and often exhibited member of the Nitten, receiving the Hokuto Award there. He also took the grand prize at the International Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics as well as the prestigious Japan Ceramic Society Award in 1965. He is mentor and teacher to a new generation of Japanese potters including Ichino Masahiko.