Catalog: Artists (1017)

Playful imagery shines vibrant on this white porcelain tea bowl by female artist Takahashi Aki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Gold Sai Chawan. It is 12 cm (5 inches) diameter, 8 cm (3 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Takahashi Aki was born in Kyoto in 1976 and graduated from Saga prefectural Arita College of Ceramics in 1999. In 2003 she was first awarded at the the 2nd Developing Young Artist Craft Competition, before going on to further study. In 2006 she completed training at the Kyoto prefectural Polytechnic School of Ceramics. She has since been selected for The Takaoka Craft Competition, then the Itami International Craft Competition as well as the Tanabe Contemporary Tea ceremony Exhibition. In 2012 her work was featured in the Kagayaki e no Shotai exhibition in Takashimaya Kyoto store, and the following year at the Japan-Korea Ceramic art Exchange (Gyeongsangbuk-do). Again in 2016 she was exhibited in the Gyeonggi Arts Center.

A striking sake set by Okushima Keiji consisting of a glass Tokkuri embedded and a glass Guinomi sake cup mixed with porcelain and lacquered inside with silver leaf, each enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes. When I first saw his work, although made of glass, I had the impression that it was made by a potter, and Keiji attempts to bridge these mediums, with the addition of lacquer and gold/silver leaf, applied, baked, charred, to create art works never before seen. The Tokkuri is 15 cm (5-3/4 inches) tall, the cup 7 cm (3 inches) diameter and both are in perfect condition, directly from the artist.
Okushima Keiji was born in Kyoto in 1977, and raised in rural Shiga prefecture just over the mountains from his birthplace. In 2000 he graduated Ritsumeikan University, and entered the Toyama Garasu Zokei Kenkyusho Glass Research Facility, graduating there in 2002. After working in a glass studio for several years, he established his own studio in Shiga in 2010. Since he has focused on the world of private exhibitions as his preferred venue. That said, he has been accepted into the Glass Craft Triennale in 2010, the National Craft Exhibition (Nihon Kurafuto Ten) in 2011, and received the Iwata prize at the Tableware Taishoten in 2012. 2013 saw his work in display in the Lansing At Gallery (US) and in Korea where he would be seen again in 2014 and 2015. From 2016 to 2019 his list of exhibitions is impressive, including exhibitions throughout Japan as well as New York and Korea. Like many artists, he is now recovering from that three year blank left in all our lives by COVID.

Blue glaze has been applied to the joined slabs of raw clay forming this elongated basin by Shigemori Yoko enclosed in a signed wooden box titled Mudai. Several slabs of clay were rolled and crushed together, the raw edges untouched forming a mountain-scape along the top. It is 66 cm (26 inches) long and in excellent condition, enclosed in a wooden box signed by her brother Naoki. This is one of only a couple examples we have from this torn series.
Shigemori Yoko (1953-2021) was born in Kagoshima. Yoko came to Kyoto where she initially studied painting at the Kyoto Tankidai Art College, then moved to ceramics at the Kyoto Municipal Art University where she studied traditional pottery techniques under Kondo Yutaka before entering advanced courses under Yagi Kazuo, graduating in 1979. Her first solo exhibitions were held while still a student, at Gallery Iteza in Kyoto. She eschewed the world of competitive exhibitions in favor of the intimacy of private galleries, and her list of solo exhibitions is expansive. She received the Yagi Kazuo prize in 1986 and 1988 at the Nihon Gendai Togeiten. She was one of five artists featured in Toh, volume 76, The first issue dedicated to Kyoto Potters. Toh was at the time the most in depth survey of important contemporary potters published in 1993. Her work is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

An elegant porcelain incense burner of draped form by porcelain master Kubota Yasuyoshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Seihakuji Ryusen -mon Koro. It is 15.5 cm (6 inches) to the top of the finial and is in excellent condition.
Kubota Yasuyoshi was born in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto on the Southern Island of Kyushu in 1952. He was awarded top prize at the Yamaguchi Ceramics Exhibition in 1982, and since has been awarded at the National Ceramics Exhibition as well as the National Traditional Crafts Exhibition among many others.

A serving dish in the rare Utsutsukawa-yaki tradition by Yokoishi Gagyu (b. 1975) enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The ovoid is covered in November shades over which has been applied in white slip a field of dried grasses blowing in the wind. It is 278 cm (10-1/2 inches) diameter and in perfect condition.
Gagyu’s first exhibited piece at the age of 30 in 1955 took the governors prize at the Nagasaki Kenten Prefectural Art Exhibition. That was the beginning of a prestigious career prolific with awards culminating in being named an important cultural property for Nagasaki prefecture in 1975 (the state version of a living national treasure) he has also displayed with the Nihon Dento Kogeiten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition) among many others, and has an impressive number of private exhibitions. He is credited with reviving the lost art of Utsutsukawa-yaki, and is a very important figure in modern Arita.

Wet swirls of color, lavender and thin blue fringed with yellow decorated this odd shaped slab-ware vase by Shigemori Yoko enclosed in a signed wooden box titled Murasaki no Hi (Purple Days). This is a work in unusual style by one of our favorite female artists. It is 22x 8.5 x 19.5 cm (9 x 3-1/4 x 8 inches) and is in excellent condition enclosed in a box annotated by her brother Naoki.
Shigemori Yoko (1953-2021) was born in Kagoshima. Yoko came to Kyoto where she initially studied painting at the Kyoto Tankidai Art College, then moved to ceramics at the Kyoto Municipal Art University where she studied traditional pottery techniques under Kondo Yutaka before entering advanced courses under avant-garde Yagi Kazuo, graduating in 1979. Her first solo exhibitions were held while still a student at Gallery Iteza in Kyoto. She eschewed the world of competitive exhibitions in favor of the intimacy of private galleries, and her list of solo exhibitions is expansive. She received the Yagi Kazuo prize in 1986 and 1988 at the Nihon Gendai Togeiten National Modern Ceramics Exhibition. She was one of five artists featured in Toh, volume 76, the first issue dedicated to Kyoto potters. Toh was, at the time

A glacial lake of alpine green pools inside the Caldera-like top of this striking vase by Furutani Taketoshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Shizen-yu Hanaire. It is 14 cm (5-1/2 inches) diameter, 15.5 cm (6 inches) tall and in excellent condition, directly from the artist.
Furutani Taketoshi was born the son of master craftsman Furutani Hirofumi in 1974, graduating the Shigaraki Industrial High School Ceramics department in 1992 before entering the Shiga prefectural Ceramics Research Facility where he learned first Small Rokuro wheel technique, graduating the following year. In 1993 he would find himself under the tutelage of Suzuki Iwau before re-entering for a second course at the Research Facility, graduating in 1995. From then he returned to the family kiln where he learned in the time-honored tradition from both his grandfather Churoku I and father Hirofumi (Churokuk II). In 2013 he was named a Dento Kogeishi Traditional Craftsman. Since he has exhibited consistently at the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Subverting the self, he makes simple, organic pots which have a timeless quality. As well he dares new forms and challenges the clay with innovative techniques, coercing from the pliable earth challenging incarnations very much rooted in the now, yet still paying homage to the traditions passed down through the ages.

A dimpled set of small white glazed bowls enclosed in the original signed wooden box by Sodeisha artist Yamada Hikaru enclosed in the original signed wooden box. They are 9 x 10 x 6.5 cm (3-1/2 x 4 x 2-1/2 inches) and are all in excellent condition. Perfect for small deserts or su-mono if serving Japanese style.
Yamada Hikaru (1924-2001), was born into the family of layman potter and priest Yamada Tetsu, and raised in Gifu after the family home was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake. At the age of 20 he entered the Kyoto ceramics research facility, 15 years junior to those who had inspired the great Mingei movement at that same institution. Somehow escaping overseas service in the war, he met Yagi Kazuo in 1945, and the two formed an instant bond, founding a group for young potters the following year. Compounded by the austerity and poverty they faced as young artists in the immediate postwar, the group grew and along with Kumakura Junkichi, Suzuki Osamu and Yagi Kazuo formed the most influential post war ceramics organization, Sodeisha, as it was, in 1948. They eschewed public competition and espoused the ideas of art for arts sake, negating the ideas of the mingei movement, which stressed function over form. Together, members of the group worked tirelessly to promote modern Japanese pottery for the next several decades both within and outside of Japan. Held in innumerable public and private collections including the National Museum of Modern Art, both Tokyo and Kyoto, Museum of New South Wales and the Victoria Albert.

A rare blue and white bowl decorated with swirling grasses loaded with rice by important contemporary artist Kondo Takahiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Sometsuke Hachi. Takahiro is known for his innovative mist series, however is also the recipient of a long ceramic tradition. The bowl is 18 cm (7 inches) diameter, 6.3 cm (2-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent 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)

Lavender tinged glaze covers the sandy clay of this Hagi platter by Miwa Eizo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Sara (Dish). The glaze crawls and pulls back here and there, leaving raw edges and windows of sunburnt or blackened clay exposed. It measures 32.5 x 32.5 x 6 cm (13 x 13 x 2 inches) and is in perfect condition.
Miwa Eizo (1946-1999) was born the second son of Living National Treasure Miwa Kyusetsu XI. He graduated the Private Musashino Art University and was a member of Japanese Traditional Crafts Society, often displayed at their National Exhibition (Nihon Dento Togeiten). He was recipient of top prize at the Tanabe Museums prestigious Modern Tea Forms Exhibition (Gendai Cha no Yu Zokei Ten). ). Unfortunately, he died in 1999 at the early age of fifty two. His brother Ryosaku succeeded the family name as Miwa Kyusetsu XII. He is held in the collection of the British Museum and The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo among others. For more on this artist see the book: The Ceramic Works of Eizo Miwa (2001) published posthumously by the preeminent Kuroda Toen art gallery of Tokyo.

Every effect you could ever want is visible on this masterpiece chawan by Anagama artist Furutani Taketoshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Shizen-yu Chawan. It is 12 cm (just less than 5 inches) diameter and in excellent condition. What is most surprising about the tea bowls of Taketoshi is his ability to take this very rough Shigaraki clay, and coil form the walls of the bowl so thin, making the bowls deceptively light to hold. And yet these sit in the very precious Hai-kaburi space at the front of the kiln, so he is only able to get a few bowls like this from a firing. This year so far he ahs only fired twice, so likely has made less than 10 hai-kaburi chawan like this in the entire of 2022.
Furutani Taketoshi was born the son of master craftsman Furutani Hirofumi in 1974, graduating the Shigaraki Industrial High School Ceramics department in 1992 before entering the Shiga prefectural Ceramics Research Facility studying wheel technique, graduating the following year. He then did a year apprenticeship at a pottery before re-entering for a second course at the Research Facility, graduating in 1995. From that year he returned to the family kiln, receiving the family tradition from both his grandfather Furutani Churoku and father Furutani Hirofumi. Subverting the self, he makes simple, organic pots which have a timeless quality, very much rooted in the now, but paying homage to the traditions past down through the ages. He was named a Designated Traditional Craftsman (Dento Kogeishi) in 2013. He has exhibited with the Nihon Dento Kogeiten among others, and still works closely with his father at the family kiln.

A growth of calcified clay in sand-textured white by Yamaguchi Mio dating from 2023, a bridge between her earth-tones and new porcelain works. It is a great size at 22 x 15 x 20 cm (roughly 9 x 6 x 8 inches) and is in excellent condition, directly from the artist. It comes with a signed wooden box, which will be ordered upon sale.
Yamaguchi Mio was born in Aichi prefecture in 1992, and graduated advanced studies at the Aichi University of Education in 2017. While still at university, her works were selected for show at the JoryuTogei Ten Female Ceramic Artist Association Exhibition (2014). In 2016 she was awarded at the 3rd Kogei in Kanazawa Competition, Grand Prize at the Ceramic Art in the Present Tense Exhibition at the Hagi Uragami Museum as well received the governors prize at the 5oth Female Ceramic Artist Association Exhibition. In 2017 she was selected for the 11International Ceramics Competition in Mino. She took a job as a teacher, but could not fight the need to create, so enrolled in the Tajimi City Ceramics research facility, graduating in2020. Her work is currently on view in the Chicago Institute of Arts, and was featured on the cover of the catalog for that exhibition, Radical Clay.
According to Mio: I feel that my fascination towards the natural world’s use of repetition, in bee hives and on the surface of corals, appears in my work as I consume and absorb the world around me. I like to believe that these works are natural forms made by my own hands. When I mold clay, I have a sensation that my body and consciousness blends and binds with the material and the natural world. The process of building upon each coil and applying each fold one by one with my hands is a form of meditation. Through this repetitive process I want to be able to convey my thoughts at the time in the texture, such as my struggle of swaying between the desires to live freely and falling under the pressure from societal expectations. It calms me down to observe the fingerprints left in the surface and see the traces of my existence in the clay. These works are products of what I have absorbed around me.

Brisk inky swirls have been struck into the milky white sides of this large bowl titled San-nin-mawashi Chawan (Teabowl for 3) by Shigemori Yoko enclosed in a signed wooden box. As would be expected of this artist, the work is spontaneous and energetic with no sense of caution or hesitation. The base is thick and solid, the entirety exuding a sense of confidence and strength. It is 15 cm (6 inches) diameter, 11.5 cm (4-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition, the box annotated by her nephew. In some traditions tea was made in a large bowl and passed from hand to hand, each person taking a sip. A bit like passing the mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving…
Shigemori Yoko (1953-2021) was born in Kagoshima. Yoko came to Kyoto where she initially studied painting at the Kyoto Tankidai Art College, then moved to ceramics at the Kyoto Municipal Art University where she studied traditional pottery techniques under Kondo Yutaka before entering advanced courses under Yagi Kazuo, graduating in 1979. Her first solo exhibitions were held while still a student, at Gallery Iteza in Kyoto. She eschewed the world of competitive exhibitions in favor of the intimacy of private galleries, and her list of solo exhibitions is expansive. She received the Yagi Kazuo prize in 1986 and 1988 at the Nihon Gendai Togeiten. She was one of five artists featured in Toh, volume 76, The first issue dedicated to Kyoto Potters. Toh was at the time the most in depth survey of important contemporary potters published in 1993. Her work is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A proud form of a fulling block inscribed with a wave pattern in the raw clay of the base and covered in ame-yu glaze by Inoue Toya enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 9-1/2 inches (24 cm) tall, 6 inches (15 cm) diameter and in excellent condition.
Inoue Toya (1942-2013), graduated the prestigious Nihon Daigaku in 1966, having spent his student years excavating ancient Karatsu shards and researching their techniques. He apprenticed under the multifaceted potter Nushi Ensai. In 1969 he opened his own kiln. He served as head of the Karatsu Ceramic Cooperative from 1983-2010 while focusing on private exhibitions held at Department stores and galleries throughout Japan. In 2008 his lifetime achievements were recognized with a private exhibition in Los Angeles.

A fabulous Shigaraki Tsubo of austere form blasted with natural ash glaze by Otani Shiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. A classic work it is 20 cm (8 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Otani Shiro was born in Shigaraki in 1936 and graduated the Prefectural School in the ceramics department in 1956, which he followed up with 4 years studying decorating techniques under Morioka Yutaro. He then moved to Kyoto where he studied at the Municipal Ceramics Research Facility, where he trained under Kiyomizu Kyubei, Shofu Eichi and Uchida Kunio before returning to Shigaraki to yet further his studies in design. He garnered his first award at the Shiga Prefectural Art Exhibition in 1962, as well as the Governor’s prize at the National Rodosha Bijutsu-Ten Exhibition. He took a position with an industrial kiln in Shigaraki in 1963, and began potting in his free time, exhibiting and being awarded at the Asahi Togeiten among others. In 1968, he left his position at the kiln, and in 1969 was first accepted into the National Traditional Crafts Exhibition (Nihon Dento Kogeiten). In 1973 he established his own kilns in Shigaraki, both an Anagama submerged kiln and a climbing kiln, and began learning from future Living National Treasure Shimizu Uichi. From there he participated in the Nihon Dento Kogei Ten (National crafts Exhibition) as well as innumerable private exhibitions both domestic and International, and was named an Intangible Cultural Asset of Shigaraki in 1990. His work is held in The Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Fogg Art Gallery of Harvard as well as the Morikami Museum and Smithsonian among others. For an in depth look at this potter see the article by Rob Barnard in Ceramics Monthly volume 39 (Summer 1991).

A spectacular faceted work by Ueda Mitsuharu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Mentori Kabin. It is 9 x 11 x 11 inches (28 x 24 x 28 cm) and is in excellent condition.
Born in Fukuoka in 1957, and studied initially pottery in Tamba under Ogami Tsuyoshi before entering the Kyoto Prefectural Ceramic Research Facility, which he finished in 1983 followed by a year studying glazes in the Shiga Prefectural Kiln. That same year he entered the Koga Tea Culture Research place (Koga Sado Bunka Kenkyusho) and came under the influence of Koga Kenzo. In 1987 he came to study under Ueda Naokata, and has since taken over that kiln, becoming the 6th Naokata.

An open basin in the shape of a tea bowl by female artist Okuda Tomoko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Raku Kohen Hanaire (Kiln altered Raku Vase). It has the feeling mas as if it has grown this way, out of some geologic process, than sculpted out of clay. Large and tactile it is 8 inches (20 cm) diameter, 5 inches (13 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
Okuda Tomoko studied under the great female avant-garde legend Tsuboi Asuka, and lived and worked in Tokoname for 20 years, before returning to her home of Nara in 2014. With a great number of private exhibitions, her works have been exhibited at the Asahi Togeiten Ceramic Exhibition, as well as in America, France and England. She has been awarded the Joryu Togeiten (Female Artist Ceramic Exhibition). Her philosophy is “pottery should be free and supple like a cat, imbued with warmth and grace, leave your heart to the soil and have fun”.

Thick white feldspathic glaze tinged with flickers of color covers this sake flask by Kato Kozo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shino Tokkuri. It is 13.3 cm (just over 5 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Kato Kozo was born in 1935, and studied under the Mino Legend and Designated Living National Treasure Arakawa Toyozo. He has been widely exhibited both domestically and abroad and like his mentor Kozo was named a Living National Treasure in 2010, a tribute to a life spent reviving and defending the Mino traditions. Work by him is held in the National Museums of Modern Art, both Tokyo and Kyoto as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum among others