Modern Japanese Ceramics Pottery Contemporary
By Appointment is best. You might get lucky just popping by, but a great deal of the month I am out visiting artists or scouring up new items, so days in the gallery are limited.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1487673 (stock #MC641)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
Stratified layers fold over in a timeless rhythm on this covered box by Izumita Yukiya enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Sekisoh Futamono. The laminated layers and uneven kiln texture folded over and over again, create a unique cadence on the baked earth which offers the viewer both urbanity and a view of the wilderness that resembles the strata of the earth. If one has ever walked the shoreline of Iwate where this artist lives, the influence is clear. The receptacle is 28 x 19 x 4 cm (11 x 7-1/2 x 1-3/4 inches) and is in excellent condition, directly from the artist. Izumita Yukiya was born in 1966 in Rikuzentakat, Iwate Prefecture, and studied potting technique at the Kokujiyaki Kilns under Shimotakke Gakuho. He opened his own kiln in 1995 in Noda Village. In 1998 he began firing in an Anagama hole kiln. He has an impressive list of exhibitions and awards including the grand prize twice at the Asahi Togeiten Ceramic Exhibition in 2000 and 2002. He has also exhibited at the Nihon Togeiten National Ceramics Exhibition, International Ceramics Festival in Mino, Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition as well as being awarded at the 20th Japan Ceramic Art Biennial Exhibition in 2009. He has displayed in both Europe and America and is held in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery and Iwate Prefectural Museum and
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1489215 (stock #MC702)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
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
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1490899 (stock #YM018)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
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.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Pre 2000 item #1492593 (stock #MC182)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
$650.00
Sale Pending
One of my favorite potters, here is an exquisite yellow tinged vase like the dilapidated bamboo vase in the tea room by Sakata Keizo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hagi Takegata Hanaire. The clay is thick and heavy, giving the ephemeral form strength and juxtaposed sense of permanence. It is 32.5 cm (13 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Sakata Keizo (1949-2004) was born into the traditional Hagi pottery family of Sakata Deika. After graduating from university, he studied sculpture and spent some time overseas before beginning work at the family kiln. This exposure outside of the very traditional world of Hagi set him apat from many other local potters. In 1978, he was awarded at the First Exhibition of New Traditional Crafts (Dento Kogei Shinsaku Ten). In 1989, he became a member of the Japan Kogei Association and exhibited with that organization garnering a number of prizes as well as being awarded at the Japan Traditional Craft Exhibition (Dento Kogei Ten), and receiving Grand Prize of the Tanabe Museum Ceramics of Tea Exhibition. He was expected to make a great leap forward as the next Sakata Deika, but died in 2004 at the young age of 54. He was posthumously named the 15th generation Sakata Deika.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1415705 (stock #1436)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, with thanks!
The surface of this bowl is like glossy rust, shot through with various shades and glimmering with mottled colors, the base irredescent red. It is by rising star Hashimoto Tomonari and comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled: Untitled Utsuwa (vessel). It is 13 cm (5-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this winter.
After hand forming and sculpting the shapes, they are bisque fired, then glazed and fired again at a relatively low temperature (Between 1000 and 1100 degrees, like Raku ware). Then he builds a brick oven around each piece and brings the temperature up to 500 degrees, and adds millet or rice husk, which carbonizes the surface, creating incredible colors and random patterns leaving the viewer with a feeling like rusted or heated metal. Although many of his works are monumental, we have requested him to create some things a bit easier to ship…
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 Univversity 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 already making international waves around Asia. He will make his Western debut in Spring 2020. Get pieces by him while you can!
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Cups : Contemporary item #1424367 (stock #1498)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
Sold, thank you!
A pair of cups in silver and blue with gold by rising star Ichikawa Toru enclosed in the original signed wood box complete with Shifuku and Shiori. Each is roughly 9.5 cm (4 inches) diameter, 8 cm (3-1/4 inches) tall and both are in new condition. There is quite a contrast, fascinating to hold and view. The silver is quite dry and heavily textured, reminiscent of Same-hada (Sharkskin) or Jakatsu (Scorpion and Snake) wares. However, the celadon is smooth and shiny, in a deep, absorbent color, while the gold shines like only gold can, creating a vivid dialog across the playful surface. To top it off, he has allowed the thin edges to degenerate just a touch, giving them a sense of fragility and impermanence, as if they are about to disappear before your eyes.
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.
All Items : Vintage Arts : Regional Art : Asian : Japanese : Stoneware : Pre 1960 item #1377139 (stock #1205)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
Two shades of black form ethnic patterns on this hishigata vessel by Kiyomizu Rokubei dating circa 1960 nearly identical to figure 12 (page 85) of the catalog Yagi Kazuo to Kiyomizu Rokubei exhibited at the Muse Tomo in Tokyo in 2017. It is 18 x 13 x 24.5 cm (roughly 7 x 5 x 10 inches) and is in excellent condition. This came from the Rokubei family estate. No box
Kiyomizu Kyubei (1922-2006) was born Tsukamoto Hiroshi in Nagoya. He graduated from Nagoya Industrial High School (now the Nagoya Institute of Technology), majoring in architecture. Coming of age during the war years was not easy. he worked in glass and metal before being adopted into the Kiyomizu family in 1951. In 1953 he graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, majoring in metal casting. In 1958 he continued his studies of sculpture under under Shigeru Senno, while working in clay at the Rokubei kiln. In 1963 he became an assistant professor at the Kyoto City University of Arts, advancing to full professor in 1968. He then took a one year sabbatical in Italy and since has received many prizes including the 17th Mainichi Arts Award in 1976 and the Excellence Award at the Henry Moore Grand Prize Exhibition in 1979. He succeeded as head of the Kiyomizu Family in 1980, relinquishing the reins to his son Masahiro in 2000. According to the catalog from the recent Kyubei/Kazuo exhibtion “The works by Kiyomizu Hiroshi dating from the 1950s display handsome, geometric forms. Design like consideration is a sensibility shared by many ceramicists today and he gives us an impression that he was ahead of his time.
The National Museums of Modern Art in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka hod 16 works
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Vases : Pre 2000 item #1414544 (stock #1411)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, with thanks!
A stack of fused Bowls hollowed out as a vase by Satonaka Hideto enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Utsuwa dating circa 1976. During the post war era a great amount of research was done in reviving ancient firing techniques, many potters and scholars working on medieval kiln excavations would unearth stacks of bowls and mounds of fused pots where kilns had collapsed during firing dating from the Heian period on to the age of the climbing kiln. These were well known to ceramic artists and researchers at the time. Here Hideto brings one such deformation into the modern world, perhaps a commentary on the fragility of our human efforts. Ordinarily fused and covered in encrustation of ash, here the artist has taken the opposite effect, with a brilliant crackled yellow glaze. It is 7-1/2 inches (19 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
Satonaka Hideto (1932-1989) was born in Nagoya and graduated advanced studies at the prestigious Tokyo Kyoiku University Arts Department in 1956, then went on to study under Miyanohara Ken, exhibiting his first ceramic sculpture with the Totokai in 1961, and garnering the Itaya Hazan Prize for it. Throughout the ‘60s he would exhibit there earning several awards as well as at the Sankikai. From 1970 he moved to the circle of Yagi Kazuo, and would fall under the umbrella of Sodeisha. Two of his works would be selected and awarded for the first Nihon Togeiten National Ceramics Exhibition in 1971. The following year he would be awarded at the Faenza International Ceramics Exhibition. He would leave Sodeisha after the death of his mentor in 1979. He would participate in the Valauris International Ceramic Biennale among many other overseas extravaganzas. While working as a professor at the Bunkyo University Art Department his life ended suddenly in an automobile accident in 1989. Six works by him are held in both the National Museums of Modern Art in Tokyo and Kyoto
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Pre 2000 item #1414621 (stock #1414)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
Sold, with thanks!
Ethnic designs in brilliant crimson red decorate this ewer by Yoshikawa Mitsuru enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Aka-e no Binshi (Red Decorated Server). It is 15 x 12 x 15 cm (6 x 4-3/4 x 6 inches) and is in excellent condition. Together with the sake cups and sake pot, this would be a wonderful service set for two. Anyone wishing to purchase this group will receive a proper discount.
Yoshikawa Mitsuru was born in Kyoto in 1949, graduating the Kyoto Municipal University of Arts advanced studies in ceramics in 1976. He has been exhibited at the Asahi Craft Exhibition, Nihon Togeiten National Ceramics Exhibition, Asahi Togeiten Ceramics Exhibition and his works have been collected by Kyoto City. He has been picked up by many of Japan’s preeminent galleries, including private exhibitions at the prestigious Takashimaya and Kuroda Toen of Tokyo’s Ginza District.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1439091 (stock #1654)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, with thanks!
The purity and perfection of this takes your breath away. It is a gorgeous piece by Hattori Tatsuya and comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ginsai Wan. The bowl is 12 x 13.5 x 8 cm (4-1/2 x 5-1/4 x 3 inches) and is in perfect condition, from the artist late 2020. He is a master of silver/platinum/titanium glazes, and his forms, especially his tea pots, are very popular and generally sell out quickly.
Hattori Tatsuya was born in Tajimi, home of Shino and Oribe wares, in 1978 and was raised in the vibrant pottery scene of that region. However, he had no interest in pottery until after graduating with a degree in business from university. Taking a hiatus from studies and work, he stumbled onto the path of the potter by accident (or was it fate). He entered the Tajimi Ceramics Research Facility, graduating in 2004. His work was selected for display at the Mashiko Ceramic Art Exhibition and Asahi Togeiten Ceramics Exhibition that year. He took a position as a ceramic designer at a local company, working nights and weekends on his own art and promoting himself in the off hours until he felt he could afford to devote himself completely to the wheel. At first he concentrated on making decorative works, but soon began moving steadily toward functional vessels, enjoying the dialog between the work and the user.
All Items : Artists : Lacquer : Contemporary item #1444033 (stock #1595)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, with thanks!
A splendid antique cut glass cup selected and decorated by contemporary female lacquer artist Arai Etsuko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Glass Maki-e Hai, Yoake (Glass Sake Cup named Breaking Dawn). She said that when she first saw the glass in a street market, she instantly envisioned how the engraved patterns could be accentuated by colors and powdered precious metals. Here an interesting comparison of techniques is possible. The bowl is decorated outside, first with layers of color, then powdered gold applied over top. The rim is covered in dark blue lacquer sprinkled with gold, with red and blue diamonds alternating with clear glass connected to the stem by strands of gold. The base on the other hand, has been decorated in the opposite order, with powdered gold first, then a red sunrise in the center overtop of which is applied the colored lacquer. Allowing the pattern to be visible through the glass, but not from the decorated underside. It is 10.5 cm (4 inches) tall and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this year.
Arai Etsuko (born in Kanagawa in 1980) apprenticed under Hiroshi Okada after Graduating the Kyoto School of Traditional Arts in 2003. For seven years she learned the arts of maki-e and kanshitsu, nunobari and inlay, working both on new pieces, as well as in the restoration of antique items, giving her a deep understanding of the various processes of lacquer over the centuries. In 2010 she moved out on her own. Her work is characterized by the exquisite mixture of traditional lacquer ware manufacturing methods and the delicate and gentle style unique to a woman. Her work has been exhibited at various venues throughout Japan, including the Asahi Craft exhibition and Kyoten. She was designated a Traditional Craftsperson (Dento Kogeishi) of Kyoto in 2014, Nationally in 2015. In a recent conversation she said she was drawn to the world of Lacquer by its glitter and sheen. Unlike drawing or pottery, the creation of lacquer art has no immediate sense of gratification, the imagery is brought out through layers over weeks or months, often invisible until the final stages. A most demanding medium, patience and diligence are paramount, but the result is unlike any other artform, and with proper care, can be passed through the generations, an heirloom to span the centuries.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1468469 (stock #MC024)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
A sculpted large blue chawan buy Sugitani Keizo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 13.5 x 14 x 10 cm and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this summer.
Sugitani Keizo was born in Osaka in 1959. In 1982 he graduated the Ceramic Art Institute of the Tekisui Museum of Art. He has selected for a number of group exhibitions including the International Ceramics Competition Mino and the Asahi Art exhibition, where he has been awarded. He has been exhibited at some of Japns top galleries as well as London, Art Miami, Maastricht, New York, Taipei and Shanghai among others.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Vases : Contemporary item #1468513 (stock #MC025)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
Earthen-toned glaze covers the fissured surface of this unusual small vase by Sugitani Keizo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is roughly 6 inches (15.5 cm) diameter and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this summer.
Sugitani Keizo was born in Osaka in 1959. In 1982 he graduated the Ceramic Art Institute of the Tekisui Museum of Art. He has selected for a number of group exhibitions including the International Ceramics Competition Mino and the Asahi Art exhibition, where he has been awarded. He has been exhibited at some of Japans top galleries as well as London, Art Miami, Maastricht, New York, Taipei and Shanghai among others.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Vases : Contemporary item #1475181 (stock #MC130)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
A lovely lavender-tinged gray vase swept with brush strokes like fleeting snow in the Utsutsukawa-yaki tradition by Yoshioka Gagyu enclosed in the original singed wooden box titled Shirasagi Hanaire (White Egret Vase). Two birds stand against the cold on a long barren branch tinged with silver. Truly exquisite. The vase is 19.5 cm (just less than 8 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Gagyu’s first exhibited piece at the age of 20 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.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Porcelain : Pre 2000 item #1487499 (stock #MC634)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
A pair of exquisite fluted porcelain bottles decorated in rich color by Living National Treasure Tokuda Yasokichi I enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Flowers in various color, red, yellow, purple and blue rise up between patterned undulating bands of green, the definition clear and precise. Each is signed on the base in a yellow seal Kutani Yasokichi. They are 15 cm tall and in perfect condition.
Tokuda Yasokichi I (1873-1956) was born into a family of textile dyers in Ishikawa prefecture, but entered the ceramics world under the tutelage of his Brother Matsumoto Sahei, specializing in the Yoshidaya decorative technique of Kutani ware in 1890. In 1922 he received Imperial patronage. He was named one of the first living National Treasures in 1953 (and his grandson, Yasokichi III would also be named such).
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1490223 (stock #MC196)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
An iconic large tea bowl by Mino legend Kawamoto Goro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Haiyu Chawan. It is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 9 cm tall and in excellent condition. Kawamoto Goro (1919-1986) was born in Seto to a family of potters. He studied in Kyoto at the same institution as Kawai Kanjiro and Hamada Shoji. Returning to work at the family kiln, he was later adopted by Kawamoto Rekitei, a famous decorator of pottery. In 1953 he gained first recognition, accepted into the Nitten National Exhibition and garnering top prize at the Asahi Modern Ceramics Exhibition. In 1958 he would be awarded in Brussels, and in 1959 in California and at home was granted the 1959 JCS award. Much lauded the list is much too long for this article. work by him is held in the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art as well as the The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo among many others.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Pottery : Contemporary item #1492499 (stock #MC231)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
An iconic faceted tea bowl by Atarashi Manabu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Iga Shinogi Chawan. The faceted body is shot through with color filled fissures, with a thick coating of green ash glaze on the fire side, raw flame colored clay opposite. The bowl is 12.5 cm (5 inches) diameter, 10.5 cm (4-1/4 inches) tall and in new condition, directly from the artist this summer. It compliments perfectly the Mizusashi from the same firing.
Atarashi Manabu has been growing in popularity as one of the leaders in the Iga pottery tradition since the first time I saw his work nearly 20 years ago when visiting the family showroom in Iga village. Born in 1973 in Osaka son of the second generation artist and one of the leading revivalists of the Iga tradition in post war Japan, Atarashi Kanji. He graduated the literature department of Kansai University in 1995, moving to apprentice under his father a few years later. In 2002 he built his first anagama Kiln, and held his first of a multitude of solo exhibitions. Intensely fired multiple times to achieve the bidoro glass puddles and landscape effects which define his aesthetic, the geometric works add a contemporary sensibility to the traditional Iga style and transcend the realm of utilitarian crafts breaking into the sculptural domain. His work has proven innovative and challenging to the norm, taking his fathers tradition into the 21st century.
All Items : Artists : Ceramics : Contemporary item #1493796 (stock #MC325)
Modern Japanese Ceramics
sold, thank you
The surface of this deep bowl is like glossy rust, shot through with various shades and mottled colors, the base irredescent red. It is by rising star Hashimoto Tomonari and comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled: Untitled Utsuwa (vessel). It is 13 cm (5-1/2 inches) diameter, 10 cm (4 inches) tall and in excellent condition, directly from the artist. This series was sold only through our gallery, and this is the last remaining bowl.
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 already making international waves around Asia. Work by him is held in the V&A in London, another piece has entered LACMA and a large sculpture has recently been installed in his home prefecture of Wakayama. Get pieces by him while you can!