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Born and raised in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Nakamura Takuo (b.1945) is the second son of Ishikawa master potter Nakamura Baizan(1907-1997) and the younger brother of contemporary artist/potter Nakamura Kimpei; his other brother is also a ceramic artist, Kohei. Takuo presently signs his works as "Baizan," thus taking on his father's name. He first studied under his father Baizan I in 1978, and proceeded to enter the Nagoya Industrial Technology Institute in 1982 to study glazes; after this, he went to Italy to study under Aldo Rontini. Takuo is renowned for his gold and carved, inlaid wares, as he blends the glorious traditions of Kanazawa and Kutani with innovative and modern ideas. What is remarkable about this is that Takuo's overglazed porcelain is inlaid (using a technique called zogan) in a reddish-brown clay body. Many of his works, then, are a conglomeration of stoneware and porcelain, and this meshing of mediums are also essentially a meshing of themes. He elegantly paints and overglazes porcelain with beautiful gold colors and elaborate drawings, yet retains the earthy atmosphere of clay stoneware. His clay body can be often incised and rugged, which is a stark but harmonious contrast with the porcelain clay. We recently selected three new works and the first to be offered is this hana-utsuwa (flower vessel) that displays classic Takuo colors with a new vanilla white clay base. The lip is partially ripped as it folds down to the main body. A spring-like light green and blushing red glaze are seen on the front along with overglaze gold wave design on the traditional
purple Kutani glaze. An elegant work in perfect condition, 16.5cm.tallx23x6.3, stamped Baizan on base, with a signed box.
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