Mori Togaku (森陶岳), Japanese, b.1937

A Bizen Guinomi

Showa Era (1926-1989), Heisei Era (1989-2019) or Reiwa Era (2019-present)

About the work

A Bizen ware guinomi by Mori Togaku, boldly formed with a faceted exterior and a deep, substantial body. The cup has a powerful sculptural presence, its irregular planes and roughly worked surface reflecting Mori's direct approach to Bizen clay and firing.

The unglazed surface displays rich reddish brown and deep russet tones produced naturally in the kiln. Rather than relying on applied glaze or painted decoration, the character of the vessel emerges from the clay, forming marks and exposure to flame during firing. The lower body darkens subtly towards the foot, providing a quiet contrast with the warmer upper surface.

One face is prominently impressed with the character 子 (ne), referring to 甲子, the first combination in the traditional sixty year sexagenary cycle. The inscription therefore gives the work a calendrical association in addition to serving as a distinctive decorative element.

The underside bears the artist's impressed mark. The guinomi is accompanied by its original signed wooden tomobako.

Dimensions

7.7cm(h) x 7.5cm(w)

Footnote

Mori Togaku (森陶岳, b. 1937) is a distinguished Japanese ceramic artist and a holder of the Okayama Prefecture designated Important Intangible Cultural Property. Born into a Bizen pottery family in Imbe, he descends from one of the traditional six potting families of Bizen. After graduating from the art programme at Okayama University and briefly working as an art teacher, Mori devoted himself to ceramics. Seeking to understand the qualities of medieval Ko Bizen, he undertook an ambitious programme of reconstructing the enormous kilns used historically for Bizen production. In 1980 he fired a 46 metre climbing kiln in Aioi for 53 days, before establishing the 53 metre Sabukaze Ōgama in Okayama, which he fired six times between 1986 and 2011. From 1997 he embarked on an even larger project, the Sabukaze Shin Ōgama, measuring approximately 85 metres in length. Completed in 2008 with the assistance of his apprentices, the kiln revived not only the scale of medieval Bizen firing but also its collaborative system of production. Mori's decades long investigation of historic kiln construction and firing has made him a particularly important figure in the study and development of modern Bizen ware.