Catalog: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian (75)

A sculptural Green form by Yamazaki Akira (Yamazaki Koyo II, b. 1927), one of several enigmatic works we have acquired by this artist dating from the 1970s to early 80s. With the right lighting we can see a pattern of large black spots under the glaze on the bottom half of the body reminding me of the flintstones. The vase is 17 x 7-1/2 x 10 inches (43 x 19 x 25 cm) tall and in fine condition, signed on the base Akira. There is no box.
Akira’s father Yamazaki Koyo (1890-1979) was displayed and awarded consistently in many National Exhibitions and is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art Boston and Bern Museum of Art Switzerland among others. Akira studied under Kiyomizu Rokubei VI as well as his father and was equally exhibited and awarded, including the Hokutosho prize at the Nitten where he later served as Judge, Kofukai Ten and Governors prize at the Kyoten. For more see Fired with Passion: contemporary Japanese ceramics (2006).

A pair of men-tori gourd shaped sake flasks by Living National Treasure Kondo Yuzo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. One flask is decorated in blue with bamboo and the characters Sei-Fu (pure wind). The second is dated in blue and pink with pomegranates with the inscription “For the use of Yuzo, October 27, 1976”. Both are signed on the base. It is likely these came from the artists own personal collection. Each stands roughly 5 inches (13 cm) tall. There are two fractures visible in the glaze of the pomegranate flask.
Kondo Yuzo (1902-1985) was born in the Gojozaka district of Kyoto and studied alongside Kawai Kanjiro and Hamada Shoji at the Kyoto Ceramics Reseaerch facility, where he studied kiln technique directly under Shoji. He then apprenticed under recently returned Tomimoto Kenkichi for three years before establishing himself as a unique artist in the Kiyomizu district of Kyoto in 1924. He served as a professor at the Kyoto University of Art where he helped shape generations of potters. After an illustrious career he was named a Living National Treasure for Sometsuke Porcelain in 1977. Works by the artist are held in the collection of the LACMA, Cleveland and Brooklyn Museums of Art, Kyoto Municipal and Tokyo National Museums of Modern Art among many others.

An unusual bit of Seto ware by important artist Kato Sho enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Enigmatic windows in the smooth black coating reveal icy-pale glaze and one streak of raw sandy earth baked red. The bowl is quite large, and very pleasing to hold, slightly tapered so as to concentrate the aroma rising from the freshly whipped tea. The piece is signed alongside the kodai Sho-saku. It is 4 inches (10 cm) tall, roughly 5 inches (13 cm) diameter and in perfect condition, dating circa 1970. Sho (1927-2001) was born into the house of a potter, and graduated the Tokyo University of Art before branching out on his own. He made his National Debut at the Nitten in 1961. He has been since displayed nationally and internationally in the United States, Mexico and New Zealand among others. He received the Nitten Hokuto Prize, and was honored as judge at that most prestigious event, the same at the Asahi Togei Ten (Awarded), Kofukai, and Nihon Shin Kogei Ten (National Japanese New Craft Exhibition). He was named an Intangible Cultural Property for Aichi prefecture (the state level version of Living National Treasure) in 2000, one year before his death.