Mori Togaku (森陶岳), Japanese, b.1937

A Bizen Mizusashi (備前水指)

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

About the work

A substantial Bizen ware mizusashi, or fresh water jar for the tea ceremony, by Mori Togaku, one of the leading contemporary ceramic artists associated with the Bizen tradition. The vessel has a broad, gently tapering body with a slightly irregular rim and is accompanied by a fitted black lacquer lid with a simple ring handle.

The unglazed body displays the warm reddish orange tones characteristic of Bizen clay. Horizontal throwing lines remain visible across the surface, together with natural variations in texture and colour created during firing. A sweeping darker fire mark crosses the body diagonally, providing a restrained but striking contrast to the rich red clay.

The simplicity of the jar is particularly suited to its function within chanoyu. Its generous proportions and earthy, undecorated surface contrast elegantly with the smooth black lacquer lid. The work reflects Mori's longstanding exploration of the essential qualities of Bizen, allowing clay, flame and the conditions within the kiln to determine the character of the finished surface.

The body bears the artist's incised mark. The mizusashi is accompanied by its original signed wooden tomobako.

Dimensions

17cm(h) x 16.8cm(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.