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...

A black Porcelain vessel from the Divergence series which the artist says “can be used to serve sake or tea” titled Kuro Jiki Tsugiguchi (Black porcelain pourer). It is 9 x 15 x 6 cm (3-1/2 x 6 x 2-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition, from the artist late last year. Matsumura Jun was born in Chiba Prefecture on the outskirts of Tokyo in 1986...

An exquisite and desirable work with a swish of resist creating a white bamboo-leaf pattern on the rich red Kaki glaze and black of this plate by Living National Treasure Hamada Shoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kaki-yu Nuki-e Zara. A classic Mashiko, with a strong sense of the utilitarian, a keynote of the Mingei movement which Shoji represented...

Five serene white concave disks set on unique bases by Kato Yoshiyasu enclosed in the original signed and compartmentalized wooden box titled Asobi Kodai Hai, Gokyaku Soroi (Playful Foot Five Sake Cup Set). Each cup is roughly 8 cm (3-1/4 inches) diameter, and all are in excellent condition, from the artist this year. This set was assembled by the artist specifically for our gallery, and is the only boxed set like it in the world...

A heavily encrusted glossy sake flask by Tanimoto Kei compliments a Guinomi displaying a rustic matte finish by his son Tanimoto Takeshi enclosed in the original signed wooden boxes titled Iga Tokkuri and Iga Guinomi respectively. Bīdoro glaze (a type of natural wood ash glaze formed by firing, named from vidro, the Portuguese word for glass) coalesces into a yellow crystal rivulet on one side of the Tokkuri, opposite is a shadow of gray ash...

Earth tones and patterns of waves in black on this large vessel by Ogawa Machiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kuro Dai Hachi( black Large Basin ) and date to 2016. Perfect for flower arrangement with a flower frog. An incredible work from one of Japans most sought after figures.
Size, D 35.2 cm H 19.6 cm
Condition, Excellent
Ogawa Machiko was born in Sapporo on the Northern Island of Hokkaido in 1946...

The best sake related piece I have ever seen by Koinuma Michio enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled very simply Tokkuri. The draping curves and weep of color is superb, and sets this above all others. Michio has long been inspired by archaic forms, and this is reminiscent of the roughly 5000-year-old Jomon Venus (a National Treasure) unearthed in Chino, Nagano prefecture...

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...

The inside of the cup is lined with smooth dark glaze which gleams gold along the rim, while the glistening white outside has been carved away, every divot and ridge a tactile pleasure. It comes enclosed in a wooden box titled Kanka (Quiet, as in: the silent elegance of a flower in bloom). This is a phrase coined by the Edo period Confucian scholar Dazai Shundai in his treatise on The Purple Grass Garden (Shishienko)...

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...

Fissured white is dribbled with blue and showing flashes of red in the cracks on this large, low Ofukei and Lacquer Guinomi, by Kodai Ujiie enclosed in the original signed wooden box. This is a handful, great tactile qualities and entrancing to look at. It is 8-8.5 cm diameter, 7 cm tall and in excellent condition, directly from his recent firing.
Kodai Ujiie was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in 1990, and graduated advanced studies at the Tohoku University of Art and Design in 2015...

Two sake cups notched and torn from pure white porcelain by Kato Takahiro enclosed respectively in their original signed wooden boxes decorated with overlapping cubes titled Sake Cup. Each is roughly 6.5 cm (2-1/2 inches) tall, 5.5 cm (2-1/4 inches) square and both are in excellent condition, directly from the artist this year.
These are by the rising star Kato Hirotaka who was born in Tajimi, Gifu prefecture, home of Shino and Oribe in 1985...

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...

A refined set of Tokkuri and Sake-cup by Banura Shiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Shuki. Exquisite, the flask is more delicate than usual, with a long diaphanous spout and decidedly thin rim. This is made for a discerning drinker, entirely about quality not volume. The cup too is perfectly formed with a thin rim everted ever so slightly, a pleasure to drink from. This set is the perfect complement to a true kaiseki meal. The bottle is 12 cm (4-5/8 inches) tall, ...

Blue glaze fills in the embedded patterns in this Tokkuri by Living National Treasure Shimaoka Tatsuzo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Gosu Zogan Jomon Tokkuri. The vibrant blue is 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 15 cm (6 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Shimaoka Tatsuzo (1919-2007) was born in Tokyo and enrolled in the Tokyo K...

Although I love Bizen pottery for myself, I rarely offer it on the website as the colors are so subtle and designs often so very Japanese. This Chawan by (certainly for her era) the rare female potter Konishi Toko II is a striking exception. It stands out in a room of Bizen as if ringing a bell. This bowl is slightly smaller than normal, with a feminine grace to be found in the gentle curves, 10.5 cm diameter, 8.5 cm (3-1/4 inches) tall and in excellent condition enclosed in the original sign...

The organic shapes of Kakurezaki Ryuichi have always been fascinating, less formed by the potters hands and more as if they dripped from the kiln roof, solidifying in the conflagration. This vase, covered in flying ash, is a perfect example of that, it even now appears to be withering in the heat. It comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Yohen Kaki or kiln altered vase and retains the original shifuku and shiori. The vessel is 17 x 21 x 23 cm (7 x 8 x 9 inches) and is in exc...

An incredible pieces by legendary Abe Anjin in the artists most sought after style of saishoku colors enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes titled Bizen Saishiki Tokkuri and Bizen Saishik Sake-nomi,dating to 2020.
We see the gamut of this artists career here, red, black and green reminiscent, Ash glaze, gold, blue, and raw clay. The bottle and the cup forms is dimpled to make it easy to grasp, even if imbibed. Being a maker of tea ware, it is this subtle attention to shape and...