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...

This past summer I had occasion to visit Richard Milgrim in his Mountain Studio and asked him to pair some sake cups and Tokkuri for us. It is a rare opportunity to have an artist personally select pieces which he feels work together. This set is making use of his signature Concord glaze (Konko-yu) from America, with clay from Japan, while the cup is also using a variant of that glaze Black Concord (Konko-guro). The Tokkuri is 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) diameter, 12 cm (5 inches) tall...

The size of Box: 4 1/4" Square x 2 3/8", Medallion size: 2 5/8" Dia x 1/4" High dome shape. The size of Presentation Box: 9 7/8" Long x 7" Wide x 3 1/4" High. The title of work: "Glory of Heaven". The design depicted from Crape Myrtle flowers in various colors, blue green, pink, lavender, yellow with such a delicately made by very thin silver wires. This Japanese Cloisonne, Shippo Medallion was created by Fine Japanese Cloisonne Artist, Shinya Okamoto from Chiba Prefecture, Japan...

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...

Wood-fired Tea Bowl, Matcha Chawan, by John Benn; Harstine Island, WA. Black Glaze, with areas appearing ochre and gold. H. 3.25"(8.25cm) x Dia. 5.875"(15cm.) John Benn studied with F. Carleton Ball and Ken Stevens at the U. of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and with Howard Shapiro and Sandra Simon in the MFA Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1976, he built his first wood kiln...

A stark flower in black rises to the rim of this white glazed early vase by Yagi Kazuo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is an excellent example of the mid-century aesthetic, dating from the 1950s to early 1960s. It is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 26 cm (10 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Yagi Kazuo (1918-1979) was one of the most influential Avant Garde potters of 20th century Japan...

A quintessential work showing the decorative aesthetic of Ichino Masahiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Senmon Tokkuri (Lined Vessel). Sunset colors fade to dark about the rim, vertical lines like shooting stars...

An elongated bowl playfully decorated in vivid color by Matsuda Yuriko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Zukini Nagabachi. It is 49 x 16 x 7.5 cm (19-1/2 x 6 x 3 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Matsuda Yuriko is an avid exhibitor; it is a wonder she has time to do any work at all. Both within Japan (Nihon Togei Ten, Gendai Togei Ten etc.) and without she has an impressive list of exhibitions in a host of countries...

Wonderful porcelain tsubo with exquisitely painted sparrow and foliage across the surface with vivid watercolor like effects calling to mind a scene right out of early autumn. The detail of the painting is rather intricate and obviously owes its inspiration to many of the Meiji era painters of which Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918) immediately springs to mind...

Ash, color, and rivulets of green drip down in this spectacular sake set by Nishihata Tadashi enclosed in the original signed wooden boxes. Full of the world today, contemporary, breathing, alive. It is a wonderful Sake Set by this Tamba-yaki legend.
Size, Tokkuri D 11.2 cm H 13.2 cm
Size, Guinomi D 5.8 cm H 6.9 cm
Condition, Excellent
Nishihata Tadashi was born in Sasayama in the mountains of Hyogo, an ancient castle town in 1948...

A Japanese Contemporary Large Bamboo Sculpture made of thin strips of madake bamboo and lacquer. The artist is using an irregular, open work plaiting technique creating a kind of large cocoon shape. It can be seen from different angles and it can also be use for flower arrangements as there are openings through which a receptacle can be placed inside. But it can be admired simply as a sculpture...

XO tebori façade bottle vase

Terra cotta, slip and glaze

10" x 12.5" x 3.65"

The fire is still alive on this striking Shigaraki Tsubo by Furutani Taketoshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Shizen-yu Yohen Tsubo. Yohen, literally translated Kiln-altered, is a word for the unexpected results, or fortuitous accidents of firing. In this case, they are likely speaking of the unusual coloration of the running ash wrapping around the blackened surface. Kiln effects are what this family is known for, and this does not disappoint. It is 27.5 x 27.5...

Here we have anoter superb large tea bowl in green glaze and iron splashes over sandy white clay by Koie Ryoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Oribe Chawan. An excellent example of contemporary clay, glaze, tradition, form, function, past and future. A simply stunning work by the master of tea bowls.  
Size, D 13.4 cm   H 10.1  cm  
Condition, Excellent 
Born in Tokoname, 1938, Koie Ryoji graduated the Tokoname industrial school and moved on to work ...

A very rare boxed set of five Yunomi Tea cups showing off to a tee the many styles of Bizen for which Kakurezaki is best known. Each is uniquely engraved,sits on three footed legs (a very unusual for his Yunomi). All the pieces with the artist’s signature, they come enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Yuisha and date to 2003. This is a top quality works by this highly sought Bizen artist, and a rare opportunity for one of the best. Size, D 8.2-8.5 cm H 11.5-12.2 cm
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A powerful vase in dark wet clay by Abe Anjin enclosed in the original signed double-wooden box titled Bizen Hanaire. Once again Abe Anjin has proven his mastery of tradition with this superb rendition. Impurities in the clay mar the surface and pale ash dusts. In the top clay hints of yellow flash where flame has licked the body,and the base is like textured stone, showing the extreme temperature with which it was fired. The Momoyama was an era of constant battle and striking aesthetic innov...

An iconic work by Furutani Michio enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Chaire. It perfectly displays every angle of firing, working its way around from the puddle of ash blasted on to one side, through rivulets of crusty green vein the gray skin.
Size, D 6.2 cm H 9.2 cm
Condition, Excellent
Furutani Michio is one of the Gods of Shigaraki, an artist who wrote the book on Anagama kilns, and one of the more influential artists of the s...

Not to save the best for last, but this piece by Nagae Shigekazu is simply breathtaking. The pattern of light and dark squares which drives direct lines across the distended quadrilateral form hails images of the Ichimatsu-moyo pattern at the Katsura Rikyu imperial palace. The lyrical curves of the vessel itself are in sharp contrast to the extreme precision of the patterns, creating a unique dialog between viewer and viewed. It comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Chokutai...