Catalog: Artists (1022)

A perfect example of the more refined side of Iga pottery by is represented by this large chawan by Tanimoto Yo enclosed in the original singed wooden box titled Iga Chawan. It is 14 cm (5-1/2 inches) diameter, 8.5 cm (3-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Born in 1958 the son of Iga potter Tanimoto Kosei, Yo was raised among the kilns and has always had his hands in clay. He first began exhibiting in 1982, and in 1984 moved to Europe where he studied oil painting and sculpture (in Spain), and set up a pottery studio outside Paris. After returning to Japan he set up his own studio in 1988, working both in Japan and Spain. Since his works have been exhibited widely, both domestically and abroad in New York, London, Barcelona and Paris.

a ghostly bowl in the shape of a curled leaf, a wash of thin black accentuating the folds in the hadn formed clay by Shigemori Yoko enclosed in a wooden box titled Happa-bachi (Leaf Bowl). It is slab formed, one of her favorite methods, covered in black then washed down revealing the clay under a thin fog of black, which has remained in the crevices. It measures 15 x 19 x 9.5 cm (6 x 7-1/2 x just under 4 inches) and is in excellent condition, directly from the artist’s family, the box signed inside 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

Gold pinstripes glimmer beneath the yellow glaze of this striking pitcher by Ono Jiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Yuri Kinsai Suichu. The vessel is expertly crafted, with the title Suichu being open ended, so that it may serve for serving Japanese sake, tea or any other liquid. It is 21 cm (8 inches) tall and in excellent condition. In the first photograph it is shown with a sake cup made by his wife Emi, the cup is not included.
Ono Jiro was born in Saga, in 1953, the son of future porcelain star Ono Hakuko. He graduated from the prefectural Ceramics Research facility in 1971. He continued there studying Wheel technique, graduating again in 1977. He has exhibited with the Nihon Dento Kogeiten National Traditional Crafts Exhibition, National Ceramic Art Exhibition (Nihon Togeiten. Much lauded, he has been repeatedly awarded at the Kyushu Yamaguchi Ceramics Exhibition, Saga prefectural Art Exhibition and West Japan Crafts Exhibition among many others.

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

Beware, in this artists world the walls have ears and your sake cup is staring back at you. A striking work by Mizumoto Kayoko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kujira Guinomi. As if the unblinking green eye were not enough, a silver thorn bursts from the surface on one side (or is it a devils horn, or Vikings come to call?). Sure to inspire conversation during a round of sake, the playful cup is 5.5 cm tall and in excellent condition.
Mizumoto Kayoko was born in Ishikawa, home to the Kutani Ceramic Tradition, in 1971. She initially apprenticed in Yuzen Textile dying, where she worked for seven years, before teaching herself basic pottery techniques beginning in 1999. Having come to the traditiaonl Kutani world from outside, she was free to develop her own voice unfettered by traditional influences. In 2001 she entered a traditional kiln where she mastered the craft, and established her own kiln in 2010. Her work ahs been featured in prominent shows both in and out of Japan.

A beautiful ceramic bowl in shattered layers of celadon by master of the genre Minegishi Seiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Beishoku Rinka Hachi (Flower Shaped Bowl in Beishoku Celadon). It is 22.5 cm (9 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Born in 1952 in Saitama, Minegishi Seiko studied under various masters in Nagano, Tochigi and Ibaragi, going solo at the young age of 22. He worked in Kohiki ware initially, but moved to celadon, and is considered one of a select few true masters of that form in Japan today. He moved his kiln from Saitama to Nasu in Tochigi in 1993, and has since exhibited with the Nihon Dento Kogei Ten, Dento Kogei Shinsaku Ten and Nihon Togeiten　among others. For more see issue 21 of Daruma Magazine.

Overlapping forms create an urban sprawl on the surface of this cubist-gourd by Kiyomizu Rokubei VIII (Masahiro). It is 5-1/4 inches (13.5 cm) square, 8-1/2 inches (22 cm) tall and in excellent condition. Although the first heads of the Kiyomizu family concentrated on traditional, popular objects and designs, Rokubei VII and VIII "took a radical turn" to produce abstract, geometric three-dimensional pieces which are either purely decorative, or combine function with distinctive, unexpected form. His works have been described as "futuristic-looking" and as having "a very Cubist sensibility.
This comes from the Kiyomizu Family estate, there is no box.
Kiyomizu Masahiro was born in Kyoto in 1954 son of the sculptor and future 7th head of the Kiyomizu family Kyūbei (at that time known as Hiroshi). Masahiro graduated with a degree in Architecture from the prestigious Waseda University in 1979. Returning to Kyoto he would spend a year at the Kyoto Prefectural Ceramic Training Institute and another year at the Municipal Decorative Arts Institute in Kyoto before beginning at the family kiln where he would be handed the reins upon his father’s retirement in 2000. A technique he favors is joining together flat slabs of clay in extended forms, highlighting instead of hiding the process of their construction. He then makes cuts to weaken the structure, which results in distortions during firing. He has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prize at the Asahi Ceramics Exhibition in 1983 and 1986, Governors award at the Chunichi International Exhibition of Ceramic Arts (Chunichi Kokusai Togei ten), Kyoto Prefectural Culture Award in 1993 and 2009 and the JCS award in 2005. His work is held in the collections of the British Museum, National Art Museum of China, National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, National Museum of Art in Osaka and Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art among others.

A tall bottle of hand blown clear glass wth a swirling strip of red by Nakashima Yasushi. The top is ground to a smooth finish, and it wears a a dimpled, heavy glass, cap with matching red swirl caps. Signed on the base Y Nakashima. It is 15 inches (38.5 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
Nakashima Yasushi (1938-2017) was born in Hyogo prefecture and graduated the Kyoto Municipal University of Art in 1962. While still at university he was accepted into the Mainichi Kogyo Design exhibition. He began his career as a designer for Hino Automotive, in charge of their top model the Contessa. However dissatisfied with the opportunities there he moved to Nisshin Denki where he headed up the lighting design department. He left Nisshin in 1974, and began his own career as an independent artist, focused on the plastic arts of glass and ceramic while maintaining his contacts in the design world. With his past in lighting, he was innovative in creating works which combined glass, pottery, metal and electric lights. This did not deter him from consulting in other areas of design, and he was awarded at the National Catalog and Poster Exhibition in 1978. Although he would remain unaffiliated, a difficult place to be in group conscious Japan, he would be accepted into many of the National exhibitions including the National Traditional Crafts Exhibition and awarded at a number of important events, including the National Craft Exhibition, National Modern Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition (and the Shigaraki Ceramics Exhibition in 1999. One monumental work stands in the park in Toki City, Gifu prefecture. He is held in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Ringling Museum among others.

Energetic strokes of black decorate this small flower vase by Shigemori Yoko, perfect for a single red Camellia flower. I love the fact you can clearly see her fingers pushing back the glaze along the base. It is 12.5 cm (5 inches) tall, the same diameter, enclosed in a signed wooden box titled Kotsubo.
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

Brilliant firing affects decorate this deep tapering cup of raw clay by Tsuji Seimei enclosed in the original signed wooden box. A classic work relying truly on Tsuchi-no-aji, or the taste of the clay. There is no attempt at overt decoration of sculpture, just a perfectly formed cup with a slightly wider base blasted in the furnace with black charring, thin rivulets of molten ash and lots of Hi-iro. It is 12.5 cm (5 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Tsuji Seimei (1927-2008) was born the son of an antique dealer in Tokyo in 1927. He was a childhood prodigy, and had acquired a reputation before leaving school, allowing him to meet many of the great artists of his day. In 1941 he established a studio with his sister. In 1955 he built his own studio in Tama City, choosing Shigaraki as his medium, he fired prodigiously. He married Tsuji Kyo, also a potter, and together they formed a team which helped define the blending of post-war traditional and non-functional ceramics.

9 faceted sides rise up to the circular rim forming this deep bowl enveloping a jade pool by Yoshikawa Masamichi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Wan. The sides have been slabbed away forming 9 facets on 9 facets, resting on a seven sided foot. Defining each flattened surface are blue architectural lines. It is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 8 cm tall and in perfect condition.
Yoshikawa Masamichi was born in Kanagawa in 1946, and graduated the Japanese Design Academy in 1968. He first garnered attention in Japan being awarded at the 1971 Asahi Togeiten Ceramics Exhibition, and the following year received honorable mention at the 3rd International Biennale of Ceramic Art Vallorious France(Gold prize there in 2002). He has since received numerous prizes including Grand Prize at the Asahi Togeiten 1981, 1983 as well as the Aichi Prefectural Art and Cultur Award in 2005. Work is held in the Korea World Ceramic Center (Soul), American Craft Museum New York, Keramik Museum Germany, Brooklyn Musuem, Tokoname City Museum, V&A London among many others.

A small object like bound chords in raw white porcelain clay by Goto Miho accompanied by the original signed wooden box titled Heartbeat of the Skin. The looping object bound tightly in the center stirs mixed emotions, both reminiscent of bondage as well as the celebratory twisted rope talismans displayed at New years and in front of holy places. It is 8 x 7 x 11 cm (roughly 3 x 3 x 4-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition, directly from the artist. When prompted about her message she said: I feel that there is something vaguely present that is never visible in my everyday life. It always speaks to me like a pulse beating deep within my thin skin, insisting on its existence. Although I have been expressing myself through painting for nearly ten years, now that I think about it, I feel like I've always been struggling to discover its true identity.
When I encountered ceramics for the first time, I suddenly felt that I had found the means to respond to this vague phantom within.
In this medium I constantly interact with unknown experiences; I am able to feel a certain sense of this diaphanous existence and create works through which I can touch people's five senses; gradually giving back to society. For the first time, I feel like I am a part of this world.
Goto Miho entered the ceramics course at Osaka University of Arts in 2021, already an advanced student initially trained in painting. She was awarded at the 14th Prince Takamado Memorial Netsuke Competition in 2022. In 2023 whe entered Ceramic Design Institute of Tajimi City, and the same year was recipient of the 9th Contemporary Art and Culture Foundation Ceramic Artist Support Grant. Her work was also selected for the Ceramic Synergy Exhibition held at the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art. This is the first time her work has been offered to an overseas audience.

A pair of exquisite fluted porcelain bottles decorated in rich color by Tokuda Yasokichi II enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Flowers in various colors, red, yellow, purple blue and green rise up between patterned undulating bands of green and blue. Each is signed on the base in a yellow seal Kutani Yasokichi. They are 15 cm tall and in perfect condition.
The Tokuda family kiln was established by the first Yasokichi (1873-1956)、born into the house of a textile dying family. As one might expect, he initially studied painting under the tutelage of the famous Araki studio. Returning to his home he became employed decorating Kutani ware under his Brother in Law, Matsumoto Sahei, at the Shoun-Do. However after a sojourn in ceramic production under Asakura Isokichi he broke away and established his own kiln where he chafed at the cheap export ware being produced and began a lifelong search for the roots of Ko-Kutani. A search for which he was honored as a Living National Treasure in 1953. Just three years later the kiln was succeeded by his son, Yasokichi II (1907-1997). Yasokichi II was adopted into the Tokuda family in 1923, and studied initially at the Kyoto National Ceramics Research Facility alongside Hamada Shoji and Kanjiro Kawai. He learned under the tutelage of Living National Treasure Tomimoto Kenkichi before devoting himself fully to the family business. He was awarded at the Brussels World Exposition, Nitten, received the Hokuto-sho prize along with many others, and was displayed in Europe and America. He took many opportunities to continue his life quest by study sabbaticals throughout Asia, North and South America and Europe and was awarded the title Ken Juyo Mukei Bunkazai (Living Prefectural Treasure). He passed the name Yasokichi on to his son in 1988. Works are held in the Imperial Household Collection and Ishikawa Prefectural Museum among many others.

A gourd shaped black Bizen Tokkuri by Oiwa Tomoyuki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kuro Tokkuri. A pleasure to view, the off-kilter form is blasted with powdery dry ash on one side which turns to molten rivulets on the edges crawling around to bead up on the opposite dark shiny clay. The Tokkuri 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. Acquired on our recent trip to Bizen in June.
Oiwa Tomoyuki was born in Hyogo prefecture in 1977, and graduated the Bizen Ceramic Center in 2004. The following year he came to study under the outsider Kakurezaki Ryuichi, where he would remain for 8 years, garnering a lifetime worth of knowledge from the master before going independent. In 2014 he built a half-submerged tunnel kiln (anagama), completing his first firing in 2015. He has since been featured widely and is known for sell out shows, especially for his sake vessels.

Like an abstract painting, ink seems to wash over the earthen colored surface of this delicate shallow bowl by Shigemori Yoko enclosed in a wooden box titled Ao-sen Chawan. At first deceptive, upon turning the bowl upside down one sees a scribble of blue. Ao-sen means Blue Line, and those blue lines, thus the answer to why the bwl is titled blue line, are only isible once the tea has been finished. The bowl is 14 cm diameter (5-1/2 inches), 6 cm (2-1/2 inches) tall and is in excellent condition, directly from the artists’ family and comes in a box signed 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

Precision cuts create bursting fireworks on the surface of this vase by Kitamura Junko enclosed in the orginal signed wooden box titled Hanaire. It is 8 inches (20 cm) tall and in excellent condition. Kitamura Junko learned under the tutelage of Suzuki Osamu and Kondo Yutaka of the influential Sodeisha. Like Mashiko artist Shimaoka Tatsuzo, her work is influenced by Jomon pottery, however her approach is very different. After impressing patterns into the clay with bamboo and firing once with a dark slip, the impressions are painstakingly filled with white slip, defining the pattern, and fired again. Works by the artist are held in many public collections, including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Houston Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum of Art among many others.

A striking floral image decorates this odd shaped guinomi made to not be put down by Mizumoto Kayoko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Obana Guinomi. An Obana is a male flower, or a flower with only stamens and no pistils; lacking female reproductive function. The cup is 6.5 x 12 x 7 cm (2-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 3 inches) and is in excellent condition, dating from last year.
Mizumoto Kayoko was born in Ishikawa, home to the Kutani Ceramic Tradition, in 1971. She initially apprenticed in Yuzen Textile dying, where she worked for seven years, before teaching herself basic pottery techniques beginning in 1999. Having come to the traditiaonl Kutani world from outside, she was free to develop her own voice unfettered by traditional influences. In 2001 she entered a traditional kiln where she mastered the craft, and established her own kiln in 2010. Her work ahs been featured in prominent shows both in and out of Japan.

A lively bowl of flowers in blue and gold by Nakashima Katsuko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hana no wan. The flowers seem to beam out with glee, each ringed in golden light. The bowl is beautifully formed rising, from an elegant foot. It is 15 cm (6 inches) diameter, 8 cm (3 inches) tall 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.