Large Contemporary Japanese Shigaraki Vessel Kohyama Yasuhisa

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A striking stoneware vase made in the tradition of Shigaraki ware by celebrated Japanese potter Kohyama Yasuhisa (1936-) in the … Read more A striking stoneware vase made in the tradition of Shigaraki ware by celebrated Japanese potter Kohyama Yasuhisa (1936-) in the year of 2005. Born in the town of Shigaraki, Yasuhisa was one of the first potters who revived the ancient techniques by building wood-firing anagama kiln in Shigaraki (caved or climbing kiln that is often partially underground). His works is inspired by Sueki, an ancient unglazed ware originated from China, but they are characterized by modern and sculptural form and exquisite glassy surface and managed to appear both archaic and avant-garde. Kohyama hand-builds his pottery using potter's knife to boldly shape the pieces into asymmetrical sculptural forms. He often mixes the sandy Shigaraki clay with feldspar nuggets and uses a piano string to texturize the surface. These special techniques render the surface of his pottery a rare tactile and shimmering quality. Coupled with the random wood ash glaze resulted from the traditional firing process, a subtle but extraordinary array of colors and textures are achieved.
The vessel on offer here exemplifies most of the aforementioned qualities. Impressive in size, it is heavily built with thick walls in upright square form that tapers toward the top. It has a constricted short neck before opening a "chimney"-like mouth with flared edges. The vessel features ridge lines running on the front and back sides, as if the vase were pieced together from two halves, an iconic signature of the artist's work. The highly textured surface is subdued but with an extraordinary subtly shifting colors as a result of the firing in the kiln the positioning of the vessel received different ash deposits. The front is a lot red which transitioned into a near gray color to the other side, revealing quite a different look. There is also a bit of sparkling from the embedded feldspar crystals. The piece appears both ancient and modern and it was hand signed with the artist's insignia on the base. It is also dated 2005.
For a vessel of a nearly identical design in Brooklyn Museum, see item 1997.6.
Widely exhibited and collected, Yasuhisa's work are held in many permanent museum collections. Only a selected few are listed below:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York;
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio;
Museum het Princesshof, Leewarden, the Netherlands;
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany;
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
Brooklyn University, New York, New York;
Stoke-on-Trent City Museum, Staffordshire, England;
St. Louis Museum of Art, Missouri. See less