Perfect Kohiki-de Chawan by Shiro Tsujimura

We like to show you this Kohiki-de chawan made by one of the most famous contemporary artists of Japan, Shiro Tsujimura, enclosed in its originally signed wood box. Modeled after Korean Yi Dynasty (1392-1910) Punch'ng wares, Kohiki typically refers to an iron-rich clay body covered over with white slip and then a translucent glaze. In Japan, the Kohiki style started with Korean potters and appealed greatly to the busho chajin or warrior-tea men of the late 1500s. Kohiki is thus a style closely associated with tea.

Very few potters in the current Japanese ceramic world make chadogu (tea utensils) as well as Tsujimura Shiro (born 1947). He doesn't concentrate on any one genre though -- he fires Shigaraki, Iga, Shino, Kohiki, Ido, Oku-Korai, Kuro Oribe and Setoguro all with the same intensity and finesse. He was honored with a solo chadogu exhibition at the Kyoto Chado Shiryokan in 1999, only the second contemporary pottery to have such an exhibition after Kyoto veteran Fujihira Shin.

One of the leading ceramic artists of Japan, Tsujimura's art and approach are founded on the beauty and purity of the earth and its relationship and transformation with nature and fire. Tsujimura's creative and artistic personality is anything but conventional. Inspired, in 1965, by a classic Ido tea bowl from the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, ancient Japanese and Korean techniques and traditions, and from his experience in the Zen temple of Sanshoji, Tsujimura's work is based on a strict relationship with the past and his uncompromising individuality.

Self-taught, one of the beauties of Tsujimura's work comes from his lack of formal artistic training, allowing a purity to his creations. The individuality of his art, and his own individuality as an artist can be summarized in his statement: 'I have no teacher, and I take no apprentices'. Independent, he creates his own style and his own techniques, always linked, however, to the traditions of the past.

In his own words: 'To think about many things or to reflect doesn't help to make a successful object. Success comes when it comes, it fails when it fails.' -Shiro Tsujimura

His studio, built in the mountains of Nara, is a mythical site and the birthplace of his creations. It is with the earth from his property that Tsujimura creates his own clay. He works it, fires it and lets it mature and age with the passing of time. Indeed, one can find buried ceramics, covered with vines and bamboo. These pieces that age with time illustrate the importance that Tsujimura places on the intangible quality of nature and the passing of time.

One of the greatest ceramic artists in Japan, Tsujimura is a perfectionist in his art and recognizes his obsession with achieving his goals. Tsujimura is incontestably, the most capable artist to create works of art that retain the purity, and respect the traditions of Zen, Japanese and Korean ceramic art of the past.

Mint condition.

Size: 8,7 cm height x 15,4 cm in diameter.