Catalog: Artists: Ceramics (964)

A gossamer work by the demanding young female artist Lu Xueyun enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Breeze 2019-I. The vessel is made up of married sheets of thin porcelain, so thin in fact that light passes easily through it. Her works are truly exquisite, captivating in their frailty. I have been following the diaphanous works of this artist (known in Japan by the Japanese reading of her name, Ro-san) for nearly 5 years and waiting for the opportunity to introduce her to the outer world. This is 21.5 x 27.5 x 13.5 cm (8-1/2 x 11 x 5-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition, directly from the artist
Lu Xueyun was born in Chongqing, China in 1987 and graduated the SiChuan International Studies University in 2010, before taking a position in a Chinese company overseas division. Unsatisfied with corporate life, she enrolled in the Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto, Ceramics Course graduating in 2019, then did two years study at the Ishoken Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center. While there she took part in several juried and group exhibitions, but this is the first time her works have been shown to an international audience.

A beautiful celadon bowl reminiscent of a fallen flower petal by Fukami Sueharu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Seihakuji Guinomi, Hikari (Celadon Sake Cup, Light). It is 6.5 x 7.3 x. 4 cm (roughly 2-1/2 inches) diameter, and in excellent condition.
Fukami Sueharu is synonymous with seihakuji celadon. He has been displayed numerous times at the prestigious Nitten, Nihon Togei Ten (National Japanese Ceramic Exhibition) and Nihon Gendai Kogei Ten (National Japanese Modern Crafts Exhibition) among others. He is held in the Yale University Museum among others. For more information on this artist a quick web-search, or a look at the article highlighting his life in the March 2005 edition of Orientations Magazine will be enlightening. The list of museums holding his work is, in fact, much to long for this page, but includes the National Museums of Modern Art, Tokyo /Kyoto / and Osaka, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Philadelphia St. Louis, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Smithsonian, British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Musée national de céramique, Sèvres, Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf and the National Gallery of Australia among many others

A fabulous porcelain sake set by Minami Ayako from her legendary Yukifusuma (Blanket of Snow) series featuring a brilliant flower peering out from a drift of white, each enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Here both a sake cup and Kataguchi pouring vessel, the cup is 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) diameter. The Kataguchi is 15 x 11 x 9.5 cm (6 inches long) and both are in new condition.
Minami Ayako was born the daughter of Kutani artist Minami Shigmasa in Ishikawa prefecture, 1984. While working at the family kiln, she studied, graduating from the Kutani Prefectural Ceramic Research Facility in 2007. The following year her work was awarded at the Kyoto Kogei Crafts Biennale and was selected for exhibition at the Nihon Dento Kogeiten National Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Her work has since been exhibited there, as well as the Ishikawa Traditional Crafts Exhibition (awarded), Kanazawa Crafts Exhibition and Traditional Kutani Ware Crafts Exhibition (collected by the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art). She received honorable mention at the 73rd Issuikai Exhibition in 2011. Her series Yukifusuma (Blanket of snow) has achieved

A bottomless green pool by master of Seihakuji Kato Tsubusa enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Wan. A big telltale tear drop reaches down to grasp the table, exquisite. It is 5-1/2 inches (14 cm) diameter and in excellent condition.
Kato Tsubusa was born in Tajimi city, the home of Shino, in 1962, graduating the municipal Pottery Design and Technical Center in 1979. However, after working some in pottery, he moved on to white porcelain, a leap from which he has never looked back. He has been displayed at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, The Chunichi Kokusai Togei Ten (Chunichi International Ceramics Exhibition) and The Asahi Togei Ten as well as private exhibitions overseas (New York among others). Work by him is held in the Aichi Ceramics Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, The Brooklyn Museum, The Gifu Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, the Ibaraki Ceramic art Museum, the Musee Tomo in Tokyo, the Victoria & Albert Museum among others For more on this important artist see Toh, Volume 85 (1993), which is entirely dedicated to him. Also Quiet Clarity “RIN” (1996), or Fired with passion: Contemporary Ceramics of Japan (2007).

An elegant metallic colored set of 2 guinomi and 1 Tokkuri, perfect or sharing chilled sake on a hot summer night, by Masafumi Doi enclosed in the original signed and compartmentalized wooden box titled Tessaiji Shuki (Metal Glazed Porcelain Sake Vessels). The cups are 5.5 cm diameter (2-1/4 inches), the same height. The Tokkuri is 11.5 cm (4-1/2 inches) tall and all are in excellent condition. We picked these up earlier this year when we visited him in Nara, but are just bringing them out now as we open the new gallery space.
Doi Masafumi was born in Nara prefecture in 1972, and graduated the Aichi prefectural ceramic research facility in 2000. For the next seven years he would work at a kiln in Kyoto, absorbing the many styles and techniques associated with Kyo-yaki before establishing his own kiln back in Nara. He held is first solo exhibition in Kyoto in 2009, and in 2011 was awarded at the Nihon Togeiten National Ceramics Exhibition, where he has been featured many times.

Gold drizzles down the rough textured sides of this steep Tsutsu-chawan tea bowl by Ichikawa Toru enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The gold shines brilliantly on the rough textured clay, alternating with patches of earthy orange and pale cream. It has the WOW! Factor in triplicate. Slightly oblong, it is roughly 11 cm (4-1/2 inches) diameter 9.5 cm (3-3/4 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Ichikawa Toru was born in Tokyo in 1973. In 2015 he established his current studio in Bizen after 4 years of apprenticeship under another Bizen Outsider, Kakurezaki Ryuichi. He has since developed quite a following, with his shows selling out often within hours.

A fabulous Seihakuji Koro by Fukami Sueharu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled: Fly (Tobu). Two wings burst from the shoulders; the lid pierced with matching holes to allow the smoke to escape. It has the artists signature incised into the base. The work is 17.5 cm (7 inches) tall and in perfect condition.
Fukami Sueharu is synonymous with seihakuji celadon. He has been displayed numerous times at the prestigious Nitten, Nihon Togei Ten (National Japanese Ceramic Exhibition) and Nihon Gendai Kogei Ten (National Japanese Modern Crafts Exhibition) among others. He is held in the Yale University Museum among others. For more information on this artist a quick web-search, or a look at the article highlighting his life in the March 2005 edition of Orientations Magazine will be enlightening. The list of museums holding his work is, in fact, much to long for this page, but includes the National Museums of Modern Art, Tokyo /Kyoto / and Osaka, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Philadelphia St. Louis, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Smithsonian, British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Musée national de céramique, Sèvres, Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf and the National Gallery of Australia among many others

This young guy’s stuff is very chic; a sake set by Kato Yoshiyasu in purest white and darkest black, everything a dialog between shadow and form. Here the artist has used a combination of his repertoire. The cup is pure white dipped into black, the black then chiseled away in divots creating a beautiful pattern for the eyes and texture for fingers. The Ozabu (Pillow shaped Daiza saucer) is a flattened ball, dimpled to receive the cup, then pierced with various sized holes. Alongside standing sentry the bent silhouette of the Tokkuri, a dark belt between pierced white: an eggshell coming apart. The cup is petite, perfect for a summer sipping reishu cold sake, the rim folded in to trap the delicate aroma. The UFO shaped Daiza (saucer) is 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) diameter and the Tokkuri is 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) tall. All are in excellent condition, enclosed in their respective signed boxes, directly from the artist this summer.
Kato Yoshiyasu was born in Aichi prefecture in 1985, and graduated the Kurashiki Kogei Crafts School design department in 2008. He then went on to study at the Tajimi Ceramics Research Facility, finishing there in 2014. He moved to Nshio city in 2018, where he set up a studio and works today while raising a cute little baby with his wife.

Clouds cling to the slopes of this large ceramic container in the shape of Mt. Fuji by Matsuda Yuriko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Fujisan. It is 41.5 x 15.5 x 41.5 cm (16-1/4 x 6 x 16-1/4 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Matsuda Yuriko was born in Ashiya, Hyōgō Prefecture in 1943nd lives and works in Oshino, Yamanashi Prefecture. Yuriko is an avid exhibitor; it is a wonder she has time to do any work at all. Both within Japan (Nihon Togei Ten, Gendai Togei Ten etc.) and without she has an impressive list of exhibitions in a host of countries. She received the Yagi Kazuo prize in 1986 among many others. According to the book “Touch Fire”, Many of the women artists included in this exhibition are independent innovators who work outside the constraints of Japanese ceramic traditions. However, several of the artists, including Matsuda Yuriko, continue to use traditional techniques with skills that rival, if not exceed, those of their predecessors, and in doing so they create new and challenging contemporary ceramic art. They reinterpret the traditional decorative technique for porcelain vessels, called iro-e over-glaze enameling, and transposes its motifs onto nonfunctional objects. Her beautifully enameled iro-e porcelain sculptures are witty odes to two favorite subjects: the female body and Mount Fuji. For more information on this artist and examples of her work see the books Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, Fired with Passion by Beatrice Chang and Samuel Lurie. Also see Contemporary Clay, Japanese Ceramics for the New Century based on the Museum of Fine Arts Boston exhibition or Soaring Voices, Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists (2010). Her work is also currently on tour with the Radical Clay Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.

An exquisite work of micro-calligraphy by young female artist Tamura Seito IV enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Karakusa moyo koro. It is roughly 4 inches tall and in new condition. Tamura Seito is a fourth-generation potter and chosen to inherit the tradition of Saiji micro-calligraphy for the Tamura family. She graduated Tsukuba University in 2004, then began to study under Tamura Keisei. In 2007 she graduated the Ishikawa prefectural Kutani Research Center and began a fellowship there. In 2010 she established her own kiln in Komatsu, and the following year changed her name from Natsuko to Seito.

Fujiuchi Saeko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Usuhanada Kanyu Chawan. Usuhanada is a traditional Japanese color in the blue tone. Kanyu is glaze crackling. This bowl is 13.5 x 14.5 x 7.5 cm (5-1/4 x 5-3/4 x 3 inches) and is in excellent condition, from the artist late 2020.
Fujiuchi Saeko wsa born in Shiga prefecture (home of Shigaraki) in 1983 but chose to study in the Okayama Prefectureal University (Okayama being the home of Bizen) graduating in 2006. She went on to advanced studies at the Tajimi Isshoken Ceramics Research Facility (Home of Shino and Oribe wares), graduating there in 2012. This has given her exposure to a smorgasbord of various traditional styles and influences. She was awarded last year at the Arita International Ceramics Festival.

A large work of overlapping strips of sheer porcelain by the demanding young female artist Lu Xueyun enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The vessel is made up of overlapping strips of thin porcelain, so thin in fact that light passes easily through it. Her works are truly exquisite, captivating in their frailty. I have been following the artist (known in Japan by the Japanese reading of her name, Ro-san) for nearly 5 years and waiting for the opportunity to introduce her to the outer world. This is 29.5 x 31.5 x 19 cm (roughly 1 foot diameter x 7-3/4 inches tall) and is in excellent condition, directly from the artist
Lu Xueyun was born in Chongqing, China in 1987 and graduated the SiChuan International Studies University in 2010, before taking a position in a Chinese company overseas division. Unsatisfied with corporate life, she enrolled in the Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto, Ceramics Course graduating in 2019, then did two years study at the Ishoken Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center. While there she took part in several juried and group exhibitions, but this is the first time her works have been shown to an international audience.

A set of five brightly colored tea cups by Kitagawa Kazuki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kasaneirome Chawan (Tea Bowl of Layered Colors). Each is 8 cm (3-1/2 inches) diameter, 6 cm (2-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this Spring. The artist creates each of these cups individually by pouring liquified porcelain into a mold, swirling it around, allowing it to dry slightly, then pouring it out and adding another layer of differing color. After removing it from the mold and drying, each piece is hand etched to reveal the various layers of color in vibrant beams like sunlight through a rainbow. There is something very joyful about these works.
Katagawa Kazuki was born in Kyoto in 1991, and graduated the design department of Seika University in 2014 before moving for advanced studies at the Tajimi Municipal Ceramics Research Facility where he graduated in 2016. He now lives and works in Tajimi, and has developed several lines of intriguing pottery.

A ceramic free standing architectural sculpture by Morino Taimei (Hiroaki) enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Work 88-30 Kaiheki (Matte Blue). The naïve modeling and playful use of colors make for a fun and energetic visual. Works from this series are held in the Brooklyn Museum and Manyoan Collection among others. Stoneware on wood stand, the ceramic slab is 20 x 3 x 27 cm (8 x 1-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches) plus the wooden base and is in perfect condition. It comes wrapped in the original stamped cloth pouch with the artists shiori.
Morino 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 governor’s prize and others at the Gendai Kogei Ten (Modern National Crafts Exhibition). He was subsequently selected for display at the Kyoto and Tokyo Natby ional 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 Fitzgerald Collection.

A striking ceramic box scrawled with abstract lines covered in silver on top with silver droplets of mist covering the blue sides by Kondo Takahiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Jigen Jikiro. It is 14.5 x 8.5 x 7 cm (5-3/4 x 3-1/4 x 3 inches) and is in perfect condition.
Kondo 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)

Bold colors ripple and bead like oil on the surface of this multifaceted object by Hashimoto Tomonari enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 27 x 24 x 23 cm (11 x 9-1/2 x 9 inches) and comes with a signed wooden box, directly from the artist.
Hashimoto Tomonari was born the son of a sculptor and has felt comfortable with the processes of creation since childhood. He graduated with a masters from the Kanazawa University of Art in March 2017, then relocated to Shigaraki. A visit to his humble home studio is eye opening. Although he comes across as shy in conversation, when you move on to the subject of art, he is all confidence. He was named a finalist for the Loewe Craft Prize in 2019 and is making international waves around the world. Work by him is held in the V&A in London, LACMA and a large sculpture has recently been installed in his home prefecture of Wakayama.

A beautifully formed vase by Living National Treasure Tokuda Yasokichi III enclosed in the original singed wooden box. A quintessential work by the artist, it is 20 cm (8 inches) tall, 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Tokuda Yasokichi III (Masahiko, 1933-2009) was born the first son of Tokuda Yasokichi II who had been adopted as a teenager into the Tokuda family. Masahiko graduated from the Kanazawa school of arts, and took up apprenticeship under his grandfather and father Yasokichi I & II. Well versed in orthodox Kutani design, he broke with tradition developing his own unique style titled Saiyu in the 1970s. By broadening his spectrum with this new style of Kutani ware he garnered considerable attention. In 1986, he was named a Bearer of Important Intangible Cultural Assets by Ishikawa Prefecture (local version of Living National Treasure) and a decade later was designated Living National Treasure in 1997 for his supremacy in the use of Kutani glazes. Yasokichi III, His works are held by the Polk Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, The British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Smithsonian, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and Kanazawa Contemporary Museum of Art among many others.

Lightning splits the roiling clouds inside this silver glazed sake cup by Nakashima Katsuko enclosed in the original singed wooden box titled simply Hai. The inside is smooth porcelain decorated in blue and gold, while outside nubs lie under the silver, entertainment for the fingers while drinking. It is 6.5 cm (2-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition, directly from the artist.
Nakashima Katsuko graduated the Osaka School of Art and Design and first garnered attention with a silver prize at the Nihon Tojiki Ceramics Design competition in 1984. Her works have been selected for display and awarded at the Asahi Gendai Kogeiten Contemporary Craft Exhibition (awarded 1997), Mino International Ceramics Festival (Bronze award 1998) , Gyeonggi-do International Ceramics Exhibition, Korea, Gold prize in 2003 and Grand Prize at the Kobe International Ceramics Competition among a host of others.