Grapes in gold lined ocher decorate this flaring cylinder the color of a cloudy sky by Miyake Yoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nuki-e Kinsai Budomon Tsutsu. It is 30 cm (12 inches) tall, 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Miyake Yoji was born in Shimane in 1950, He studied from 1974 under Ito Kosho, establishing himself as an independent artist three years later in Mashiko...

A dramatic Shino Mizusashi covered in flowing glaze by Sakai Kobu enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 20 cm tall, 19cm diameter and in excellent condition.
“I follow no teacher. I take no disciples. Independent, I don't get along well with public exhibitions”. Kobu Sakai from Toki City, one of Japan’s ceramic heartlands, has mastered Shino through self-study. He succeeded a kiln mass producing generic pottery, but decided he wanted to make his own works...

A brilliantly colored bowl studded with shiseki and slashes of black by Banura Shiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 14 cm diameter, 7 cm tall and in excellent condition.
Banura Shiro (1941-2001) was born the fourth son of influential Lacquer Artist Banura Shogo. His sensitivity to textures may stem from that exacting influence...

Wall vase of irregular cylindrical shape. Middle brown stoneware with irregular natural ash glaze dripping decoration. Metal eye at the back for hanging. Marked with 3 dots at bottom, which is the mark of the Karatsu potter Nakazato Toraemon XII Muan. Japan, around 1960s/1970s.

H ca 7 in., W at foot 4 ¼ in.

Mint condition. The piece does not come with a box.

Nakazato Muan (1895-1985) inherited the artist name Taroemon XII, in 1927, following his father who was Taroemon XI...

Gold nuggets gleam on the deep lavender and black surface of this natural-formation by Inayoshi Osamu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kurinuki Kinsai Kaki. Kinsai is literally gold color, and here the artist has embedded gold into the surface, allowing it to expand and bubble out in the heat of the firing process. The effect of this on the dark matt surface is both striking and original. Kurinuki is the technique of digging a form out of a block of clay...

One of the most unusual pieces I have ever seen from this innovative artist, an octopus shaped Koro by Suwa Sozan I enclosed in the original signed wooden box bearing the Teishitsu Gigei-in seal of the Imperial Art Academy. The bulbous top of the head is removable along a line as if the creature were wearing a hachimaki head band, revealing the incense chamber within. It is 26.5 cm (10-1/2 inches) tall, 19.5 cm (roughly 8 inches) diameter and in excellent condition...

An exceptional Oki-goro Incense Burner in the shape of a dark glazed Catfish by Suwa Sozan I enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Namazu Koro dated the 6th month of Taisho 10 (1921). This would have been placed over a dish in which a burning incense cone would have been placed. It is 48 cm (18-1/2 inches) long, 23 cm (9 inches) tall and appears in excellent condition...

A crow at rest upon a rock raises its head in a gruff cry by Suwa Sozan I enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Karasu Okimono. It is pierced in the back, allowing it to be an oki-koro incense burner. It is 34 cm (13-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. A nearly identical piece was published in the 1923 book Sozan Toko, attributed to his late period...

A natural ash glazed (Shizen-yu) vase by legendary artist Kumano Kurouemon enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Echizen Hanaire. It is 26 cm (10-1/2 inches) tall, 17 cm (6-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
A ceramic madman, oil painter and recluse, Kuroemon is as eccentric as his pottery predicts. Born in Fukui prefecture in 1955 Kuroemon was a painter from youth, he began his studies under Fujita Jurouemon in 1976, and moved to study also under Toda Soshiro...

Silver glistens inside the near matt core of this fabulous chawan by JCS Gold Award winner Ito Keiji enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 12 cm (5 inches) diameter, 9.5 cm (just less than 4 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Ito Keiji was born in 1935, and has spent his life challenging the accepted concepts of traditional ceramics. He was awarded at the 1981 Faenza International Ceramics Exhibition. He was awarded the Gifu Prefectural Cultural Award in 2006, and a...

A masterpiece by Kato Shigetaka, this bowl is very powerful, and I am not one to wax too longingly on individual pieces. In short: he nailed it with this bowl which comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kuro Chawan. It is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Kato Shigetaka (1927-2013) was born the son of legendary revivalist Kato Tokuro, his older brother the legendary rebel Okabe Mineo. Shigetaka graduated the Seto Industrial ...

First we hear the clang of the hammer striking the bell, then the steadily approaching clop of his wooden shoes before the horrifying creature dressed in the robes of an itinerant priest appears; a ledger in one hand noting our sins. This is a very rare ceramic figurine by Suwa Sozan I enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nenbutsu Oni and bearing the seal of the imperial Art Academy. It is 30 cm (12 inches) tall and in excellent condition. He would have originally held a hammer, ...

A breathtaking new look at Shigaraki Anagama ware by Furutani Taketoshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Shizen-yu Yohen Shinogi Tsubo (Natural Ash Glazed Blade Style Shigaraki Tsubo). The artist has coil formed the vessel, with thick walls, then incised a waving pattern leaving a saw-tooth surface dusted in ash with brilliant hi-iro and dark charring. It is 31 cm (12 inches) tall and in excellent condition. Directly from the artist this summer.
Furutani Take...

Dragonflies alight on autumn grasses and bush clover forming the perfect seasonal connotation under an engorged white moon on this pair of mouse-colored (Nezumi) vases by Shino legend Wakao Toshisada enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nezumi Shino So-heki. Together they are 29 cm (11-1/2 inches) long, 18 cm (7 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Wakao Toshisada was born in Tajimi, Gifu prefecture, home of Mino pottery, in 1933. He was first recognized at the New Craft...

An exquisite set of small petaled-plates, each wafer thin, with a floral spray of yagiku (wild chrysanthemum) in a blue dial in the center by Suwa Sozan II enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kiku-gata Kozara, Jukyaku (10 Chrysanthemum Shaped Small Dishes) dating from the 1920s. The design is Japanese, the decoration is strongly influenced by Korean wares. Each is 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) diameter and all are in excellent condition.
Suwa Sozan (1852-1922) was born in Kutani cou...

A ghostly pale tsubo with jagged grooves cut into the shoulder by Kimura Morinobu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kaede-yu O-Tsubo (Large Tsubo with Maple-Ash Glaze). It is 36 cm (14 inches) diameter, 42 cm (16-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. Due to size the cost of shipping will be accrued separately.
Kimura Morinobu (b. 1932) was one of three born into a pottery family in Kyotos Higashiyama pottery district. He attended the Kyoto Municipal School of Art g...

Lavender and pink tinge the thick glaze applied to this large open tsubo by Kimura Morinobu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nasu-yu Shitomon Tsubo (Tsubo with Eggplant Glaze). This is a coloration for which Morinobu is well known and is unique to him. I remember meeting him one day at his house in Northern Kyoto and talking about this unusual glaze. He said an entire field of Nasu (eggplant) garners just a handful of this precious ash. The vessel is 29 cm diameter (just less...

An earing clings to the “mimi” on this fabulous ash glazed vessel by one of our favorite hidden treasures, Tamura Roppo, enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Koshu Iga Mimitsuki Hanaire. The traditional form is affixed with two “ears”, from one of which clings one tremulous drip of ash, seeming to slightly weigh down that side. Happenstance occurring at just the right place at just the right time during the firing process that it survived without falling or breaking off. I...