sabi

No not at all! My fault, just pure misinterpretation. I pride myself on being one of the few members of my generation who isn't easily offended, so absolutely no worries there!

^^^ I simply thought you were arguing for the OP's tsuba not being old tosho because of the style of the motif (not solely because of this, of course).

Haha wow! It really has been a long day! I misread that bit of your post, carry on...

Edited: apparently I can't read.

One more quick update to this one. I came across a Momoyama/early Edo kuro-Oribe chawan featuring the same motif. A wonderful piece with some obvious age and use behind it.

Steve, I'm glad you touched on the durability of Bizen. I read that high fired wares were very resilient, but didn't know to what extent. I think I took that to mean they hold up to the daily bumps and bruises a little better, but surely it would still be in pieces after suffering any significant fall! Good to know, and hopefully mine is never accidentally put to the test. Great info regarding the different lids as well - I had no idea the material used was dependent on the setting. Makes perfet sense though and I completely agree about the contrast a black lacquer variant would provide against a rugged jar. I've seen a couple Iga vessels with these, and no doubt it is appreciated in the same way as a lustrous Setoguro chawan filled with soft green usucha. Piers, I'd love to visit and the number of world class potters that have kilns and/or studios in that immediate area is staggering - the maker of this cup is one of them. And please feel free to post some pictures of your koro! The Buddha motif sounds lovely and I quite enjoy incense related wares (or anything used in the tea ceremony, really). The first piece I bought on my yakimono adventure was an ao-Oribe kogo and it's still one of my favorites. I'm glad you enjoyed my humble write-up and found it to be illuminating - now get on over to Inbe!

Barry and Arnold, No problem gents, glad you found it informative! And Barry, have I got a book for you if that's your thing. It's called Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of 16th C. Japan. A wonderful exhibition catalog of many period ceramics that runs the gamut of Mino, Raku, Bizen, Iga etc. The write ups tend to get a little repetitive if similar motifs or firing practices are involved, but overall it's a stunning read front to back. Steve, A wonderful water jar, but of course you know its merits . Love those crusty yohen deposits on the back and the flavor of the clay is stunning. I usually prefer the slouchy and bulbous mizusashi, but the indents on this piece are just enough - delighfully waggish. A question about the lid if you will - do you suspect most of these had them made and fired with the pot? I've noticed many ko pieces have lacquer or ivory ones, but turning point references a couple ivory lids as "probably" not original, which suggests they show enough age to where they could be contemporary to the jar. Of course the lid would be the most likely to fall victim of a drop, constantly being removed - so perhaps many are replacements for this reason?

Well, I had intended for my most recent contribution to this forum - the Narumi-Oribe guinomi, to be my last for a while. But after stumbling across another severely underpriced gem, here I am! Bizen is one of the oldest Japanese pottery traditions, a member of the "six ancient kilns" with roots back to the Heian period, and evolving into its own sometime during the Kamakura. The local clay is iron rich, which results in the dark tones and earthy range of colors associated with Bizen ware. Like many other art forms, it reached its peak during the Momoyama-early Edo period, at which point six families were officially designated to produce these wares by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. One of them, and also one of three that are still active today, are the Mori. The piece shown here is brought to you by that lineage, a dynamic and classical work by Tozan (b. 1938). With high-fired, unglazed styles (yakishime) such as Bizen, the individual character is left to the nature of the clay and its processing, how the potter controls the fire, and the placement of the vessels within the kiln. Bizen firings occur over a period between 10-14 days, and use red pine wood for fuel. Red pine contains a resin that yields a high temperature fire, which is gradually raised until peaking at 2,200-2,300°F around the one week mark. As the wood burns, charcoal ashes fly throughout the kiln and stick to anything lucky enough to catch them. The result is a natural, caramel colored glaze called goma - the name coming from its resemblance to sesame paste. Some are flowing (nagare-goma) and others spotted (tobi-goma), with this piece showing off a cosmos of the latter. Rotating the piece away from the goma flurry, there lies another characteristic of Bizen (and all yakishime) called an ishihaze. Meaning "stone explosion", this is a product of the native clay. While some potters work to remove as many impurities as possible, others prefer a gnarlier look. Bizen shrinks dramatically during firing, and small stones can burst to the surface like the one seen here. It is with these infinite, unpredictable kiln effects (yohen) that Bizen has been captivating pottery lovers for centuries. The dark clay flashes hues of glossy purple, scarlet and bronze with a halo of contrasting matte sunset orange on the back - the result of being shielded from the flow the fire.

Arnold, I couldn't agree with you more! Perfectly stated. These objects were appreciated in the same way as a Bushi's sword or dress, and the astronomical values placed on famous tea wares shows just how cherished they were. A bit off topic, but there's a story I like that touches on the conflict between accumulating nice things and the ideal of impermanence and not being attached to worldly possessions. The story goes that Date Masamune was once celebrating with a group of friends, and while drinking sake, the cup slipped out of his hand. He was able to swipe it out of the air before it hit the ground, a feat I'm sure most of you have pulled off. Upon realizing what had just occurred, he became enraged. A warrior of his status had flinched for no one on his rise to power, yet a mere cup plummeting to the floor was of such concern. You could argue it was purely reactionary, but I suppose to him, snapping out for that falling ochoko was motivated, however subconsciously, by the thought of it breaking into a thousand shards... Brian, I'm glad you like it and flattered that you're giving me that much credit! I've noticed that a good number of Japanese sellers tend to let the market dictate the price, and I've had my fair share of watched items go from $20 to $200 at the very end. But fortunately, some make it through Hey Barry, nice to see you in here! I hope those books are treating you well. That's a great find! And the rust appears to be pretty stable from here, I'd imagine it'll clean up quite well! I always enjoy hearing of other's collecting victories, they're great feel-good stories! Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you enjoyed the write-up!

I had always hoped to get lucky and snag a piece that fell under the radar, in ANY hobby. After years of sellers always knowing what they have, and buyers consistently recognizing quality resulting in skyrocketing bids in the dying seconds, I finally sniped one. Part of my point (along with the hopes of jump starting some pottery interest here) is to illuminate the fact that good pieces can be found for short money. Good luck trying to do the same with swords and fittings. As a few of you may have noticed by my posts in this sub-forum, I have a gaping soft spot for Oribe-ware. This piece belongs to a sub-style that I haven't yet mentioned, and is one of my favorites. Narumi-Oribe is a variant of Oribe-ware that uses the white clay we see among Ao (green) and Kuro (black) pieces, with the addition of red clay to create a very dynamic and different feel. The white clay is decorated with green glaze as it would with Ao-Oribe, while the red is merely hazed over by a layer of white slip and forms the background for the traditional, bold Oribe brushwork. Depending on the origin of the red clay and firing methods, the hue can vary immensely with the final result exhibiting peach, orange, tan or reddish-brown undertones. Sasaki Tadashi was a 20th C. master of Oribe ware, and while he dabbled in other styles, he is buy and large known for the Oribe pieces left behind. Such works are featured in publications, and I know of at least one that resides in a museum, which I'll get to later. This is a rather small-ish guinomi, bordering on ochoko size at 2.2" wide and 1.9" tall. The form is rather classic and reserved, which works wonderfully with the bold, martial motif. Three arrows are rendered in flight and comprised of some of the better line work I've seen on a contemporary piece. The three dots are abstract and can be found in many Oribe designs, but I haven't really come across a definitive explanation for them. One period piece that shows them in the sky hints that they may be stars, but unfortunately that's all I've found. Design execution is key with Oribe-ware, needing to be bold yet free of crudeness, and compositionally sound so they don't appear to be carelessly slapped on the vessel. The manner in which the glaze is integrated into the overall theme is also important, and for the same reasons. I feel this piece balances out quite well, ebbing and flowing in all the right places. Drinking out of it is an absolute joy, and a good cup must function well, as is the case with all other forms of usable Japanese art. It's good in the hand, sits true and the lip is expertly formed, which results in it feeling like an extension of one's self when knocking back the good stuff. While doing some research on the potter, I came across an eerily similar cup that currently resides in the Brooklyn Museum. It measures out almost exactly the same (.1 cm off in one direction) and the design similarities cannot be missed. While they have his birth year incorrect (it's actually 1922), the 1965 guess at when it was made seems about right. Tadashi was awarded the top prize at the 1967 Japan Traditional Arts and Crafts exhibition for his Oribe revival work, and these two pieces fit in well with what he was known for. It is my humble and largely uneducated opinion that these two were made in the same firing. They're just too dead on, and mine came with an identical pale yellow cloth which likely varied throughout his career. The box also has quite a bit of age to it, and is a striking contrast to the other in the picture, which was made in 2015. This will likely be my last pottery contribution for a while unless I come across another steal. I hope this was at least mildly enjoyable and educational, questions/comments are welcome and encouraged. Thanks for taking a look, pottery is fun!

Fantastic. Thank you for sharing, Peter.

Thanks Alton! I have one recent acquisition that I'll be posting soon! Thomas, You're spot on, the aesthetic qualities are intertwined so it's very easy to be attracted to another form of art. My interest was sparked by the relationship between old iron tsuba and ceramics, and it blew up from there. That's a lovely tsuba you have there and it totally radiates with Bizen vibes - wonderful color and depth.

Thanks Steve! While not exciting it was definitely helpful! There have been a couple artists with this name and I was hoping I had the right one, finding info isn't always easy to verify. The dates of his achievements coincide perfectly with the working period of who I was thinking this piece was by. Much appreciated, thank you very much for taking the time to help.

Happy Sunday NMB, This was included with a guinomi I picked up recently and it appears to be original to the package. I'd love to know what it says if anyone here wouldn't mind taking a minute and helping me out. The potter is Tadashi Sasaki and I can make out those characters, but nothing else. Thanks so much!

Ok, so this is what I was thinking of. This tsuba is a couple hundred years older and the "pancake" is a bit more defined, but it was made with much less-homogeneous iron so I still think a decent comparison can be made. And since the "lump" on the dragon is located on the seppa dai, I'd imagine if it stuck out too far it would've been flattened by the tsubako so the seppa would sit right. Lastly, in the interests of full disclosure: I do not know who currently owns this piece and always hesitate to throw up a random image of someone else's property, but as it can be easily found with a Google search I see no harm in duplicating it here.

Jean, Yeah I'll dig through my library and see if I have a good example on hand.

To my eye that's just a sign of a forged guard. You see that kind of "pancake" effect on earlier ita plate tsuba.

I thought the surface looked a bit iffy in those pics too, but now I'm not so sure...looks OK here.

Those areas are also the most corroded on the plate, tough to put much stock into that I think. The eyebrows are rendered with too much depth for this to be cast IMO, and the scales on the kozuka side of the body have a nicely layered effect that would get murdered by a casting attempt. And I still go back to the seppa dai, some clear activity there which supports this being a worked guard.

Evidence of forging/folding on the seppa dai and the carving looks too crisp to be cast.

Firing crack detail, a defining characteristic of Iga ware.

Had a minute to do some reading this evening and wanted to give this a quick update. First, based on a couple period examples, the grid and dot pattern is most likely a reference to a type of fabric, which ties in with the overall theme. I've also added a few pictures of another blossom viewing screen, this one by Amagi Sōchū (early-mid 17th C.). Set in the Eastern hills of Kyoto, note the various curtain set-ups used to distinguish different parties and offer a touch of privacy. The last is a profile shot of a clog-shaped Oribe-guro chawan to illustrate the inspiration for this guinomi.

Thanks Thomas, and Brian I'm glad you got something out of it! The world of Japanese ceramics is massive, and I find them fascinating in the same way as blades, fittings etc.

Haha that's brilliant. You learn something new everyday!

A Sumo umpire rolling with a sword and gunbai?