An exquisite mentori Bizen chawan blasted with molten ash by Isezaki Koichiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kuro Chawan. The entire surface has been cut with swirling facets . One side with black and blue-gray ash, the backside shows a pale brown color. Texture, form, colors , this one has it all!
Size, D 12.6 cm H 10.2 cm
Condition, Excellent
Isezaki Koichiro was born the son of living national treasure Isezaki Jun...

Gold drips down the brilliant smooth yellow body of this playful surface chawan by innovative artist Kuwata Takuro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kiji Kinsai Chawan (Yellow and Gold Tea Bowl). He really takes things to the extreme that bring back traditional techniques beauty, challenging and adding bold shapes and pop color expressions to the contemporary ceramic artwork...

Ash fills the embedded patterns on this Kiln-altered Tsutsu-gata bowl by Living National Treasure Shimaoka Tatsuzo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Yohen Zogan Jomon Wan. Crisp black charring and the various depths of ash are a bit of a departure for this artist whose work is often sedate, relying on the texture and patterns of the Jomon rope design over dependence on colorful glazes. It is 11 cm (4-1/2 inches) diameter, 10 cm (4 inches) tall and in excellent condition...

An assortment of sake cups by some of Japans most sought artists representing pottery traditions from throughout the country. Goto Hideki, Wakao Kei (SOLD), Ichino Masahiko (SOLD and Niisato Akio (SOLD), all forerunners in their genre and these bowls representing their most popular styles. We have carefully screened and selected each work as a masterpiece unto itself, and feel very confident you will agree...

Two Rikyu guinomi covered in thick shino glaze with marbleized pinks, molten iron blending with rust, moss green , lavender, white, blue and everything in between can be seen in the amazing onslaught of color. The Aka shino guinomi,looks like lava boiling up under a glacier of pure white snow, volcanic gases escaping the molten earth through the hundreds of su-ana pinholes marking the surface. They are comes enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes titled ......

This bold chawan is a lesson in texture, covered over in a thick feldspar Shino style glaze meant to imitate shark-skin, the bowl is well thrown and slightly manipulated with spatula faceting around the lower portion of the piece and an attractive, undulating lip. The highly textural glaze is in constant motion with areas of small and large nodules colliding to animate the form that has iron added under the glaze to also create a moody, atmospheric presence to the pot...

Gold glaze spills out of the parched earth clay of this large sake cup by Ogawa Machiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply “Hai”and date to 2020. The clay itself is smooth and thick, however the bowls seem to have been formed while the clay was half dry, creating a parched sensation which is especially poignant when thinking of imbibing in the libations of rice...

Strikingly bold patterns revealed through curtains of copper green play across the surface of this dramatic work by Fukami Fuminori enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Narumi Manga Oribe Wari-kodai Chawan and date to 2021. It rests on a wari-kodai split foot, the dragon and tiger are two spiritual creatures in the Buddhism representing the spirit heaven and matter earth. The bowl was published on the Itoshino Tojiki(My beloved Pottery) magazine this month...

Molten ash wraps its fingers around the organic form of this spectacular Bizen Chawan by Oiwa Tomoyuki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kuro Wan and date to 2020.
Size, D 12.1x14.2 cm H 10.1 cm
Condition, Excellent
Oiwa Tomoyuki is a rising force in Bizen pottery. Born in Kobe city, Hyogo prefecture in 1977. After graduating the Bizen ceramic center in 2004 apprenticeship under Kakurezaki Ryuichi for seven years, and moved to establish his own kiln...

A beautiful and elegant work by important female artist Tokumaru Kyoko comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hakuji Ryuhimon Chawan (White Dragon-skin) and dating to Reiwa 3 nen (2021).
Her spiky lances and unfurling fronds forming are fantastical. The artist begins with slabs of clay and then constructs them to create work rooted in existential explorations. In this regard, Tokumaru notes that her spatial expressions allow her to travel deep inside herself...

Born in Okayama in 1914, Rokuro Nakamura is one of the greatest Bizen potters of modern times. He studied and made his first pottery together with LNT Toyo Kaneshige establishing his own Rokuro kiln in 1961. He has numerous awards including the Order of the Rising Sun, Green Paulownia Medal and Okayama Nichinichi Award...

Here we have the maverick of Bizen showing off his skills again with a superb chawan in sandy white clay by Kakurezaki Ryuichi enclosed in the original wooden box and comes complete with a catalog from his show last year...

A seminal work by Karatsu Legend Maruta Munehiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Karatsu Kuro Oribe Chawan and named inside Shigenari. (Furuta Shiginari later Oribe was famous tea Master). All is deeply coated in thick burnt ash with flashes of iron , cream and olive supplanting one side...

Exhibited (in a gallery show) this Ko-Iga chawan was made by veteran potter, Kojima Kenji. This bowl is broad and deftly manipulated to create a rather nice form with the addition of a stamped device toward the bottom of the reverse of the piece. The face of the chawan has a nice build up of ash creating a blue-grey surface that then runs to ash tendrils embracing the sides and terminating at the rear in a variety of large drips. The rear is also decorated by three shell scar impressions from...

This is everything we could hope for in a bowl by this esteemed artist, Kumano Kuroemon enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kuma Shino Chawan. Like the potter himself, this bowl is large and stable, seemingly welded to the floor by its own weight and presence. On the side of the box is written in a single bold brush stroke a Zen circle.
Size, D 14.2 cm H 9.8 cm
Condition, Excellent
A ceramic madman, oil painter and recluse, Kuroemon is as eccentric ...

Being based in Kyoto we occasionally come across fine Chinese and Korean tea-ware to mix in with our Japanese offerings. Here we have an example of a ceremonial tea bowl by a Korean potter Ji Sun Tak who dedicated his life to reviving ancient techniques of the past by excavating and documentation of a number of historic kiln sites on the Korean Peninsula. Surprisingly light in the hand this piece has a look refined through the centuries, the work of a master artist and winner of one of Koreas hi...

The potter who made this exquisite Oribe tea bowl came to be master of his craft in a rather unusual way. Born into a potting family and eventually taking over as the 6th generations head of the kiln. He carried on the family tradition while incorporating ancient potting techniques and methods from foreign lands. Here in this Oribe piece, you can detect a deeper than usual luster to the black glaze, a certain uniqueness in the style of painting, and a golden hue to the feldspar contrast medium, ...

A beautiful example of modern Bizen-ware—with a thick feldspar glaze partially covering the clay body allowing the natural ash glaze underneath to show through in areas. This piece along with others by the same artist tend to push the bounds of what you usually see in Bizen pottery.

The craftsman who made this piece, Takahiro Ishii, was born in Tokyo, and, after studying ceramics for a number of years, he moved to Bizen to become a ceramics teacher and later opened his own kiln. H...