Tokkuri

[PietroParis]

Hi All,

 

Recently I bought a sake bottle at auction. It was among the cheapest items on sale and I was the only bidder, thus at least I did not get ruined. The auctioneer's description "stoneware bottle, 13cm"  was (as usual) not very helpful, thus I am turning to the learned members of this forum in the hope that somebody will help identify what I have:

 

 

From a quick look around the internet it believe it is of Bizen style, is that correct? I also embarked in a rather hopeless quest to decipher what I presume to be the kiln mark in the last picture above. I found a webpage with a long list of Bizen marks, but none of them corresponds without doubt to the one on my bottle. The only two that - to my untrained eye - might vaguely resemble it are on pages 20 and 31:

 

 

Google reads 源吉 as "Genkichi" and 森豊 as "Moritoyo" or "Moriyutaka", but all searches of those names in the context of Bizen ware end nowhere. Of course I realize that mine is an absolute shot in the dark, and many things could have gone wrong (e.g.: it's not Bizen at all; it's not one of those marks; Google's translation is incorrect). Maybe some eagle-eyed member of the forum has a better suggestion? Do not worry about hurting my feelings, I like the bottle anyway and I got it relatively cheap, thus I will not be devastated if it turns out to have no age or artistic merit.

 

This said, I have one more question: before using my bottle to actually pour sake, I would like to clean it (after all it was in some stranger's collection for who knows how long). Is there a proper way to do it to avoid damage?

 

Thanks a lot in advance for any comments and/or help. Cheers, Pietro

[Robin]

Nice one!

 

Most certainly Bizen....or at least made like Bizen.

I tried to find the mark, but without succes. I think it's a carved personal mark from the potter. Kilns mostly use stamps.

 

It's either a sake bottle, a bud vase...or both.

 

When you want to clean it for use....better not use soapy stuff. It might not be fully glazed inside.

You might end up with soapy sake for a long time when you do that.

 

Water with some alcohol is probably best...it won't do any harm.

[PietroParis]

Hi Robin, thanks a lot for your advice!

 

Cheers, Pietro

[ROKUJURO]

Congratulations on that purchase; it is a nice TOKKURI!

It looks indeed like BIZEN stoneware, so you do not have to be afraid to put it in your dish-washer. Stoneware is sintered ceramic fired at temperatures above 1.260°C, so it's hermetically sealed and safe to use whatever tensides or soaps you want to use (of course you will want to rinse it carefully). It does not need a glaze like earthenware. 

I don't think it is old; considering that there are no traces of use to be seen on the bottom, it is probably contemporary. But that is just my observation from the photos; I may well be wrong.

[PietroParis]

Hi Jean, thanks for your comments!

 

I suppose you are right about the age. There is some very light wear along the rim of the foot (?), but nothing that would indicate many years of real-life use. I guess I will have to drastically increase my sake consumption to give the bottle a more respectable look...

 

Cheers, Pietro

[Bugyotsuji]

Definitely Bizen-yaki, about 40 minutes drive from here.

If you use it as a flower vase, it is said that Bizen-ware unglazed pottery 'breathes', so flowers will last much longer.

Notice that the mark is three rightward-moving strokes.

[Guido]

..., it is said that Bizen-ware unglazed pottery 'breathes', so flowers will last much longer.

 

Kind of a reversed, early GORE-TEX? Lets air in, but water not out?

[Bugyotsuji]

Guido, so what are those beads of water you sometimes see on the outside? 

 

PS How many people have told me this story, and I always smile and nod vaguely.

[Guido]

I, too,am very sceptical of the claim that Bizen potters were able to bend the laws of physics , but maybe there's a kernel of thruth in it: if the material is slightly porous, it might result in liquid evaporating from the surface, which has a cooling effect, thus keeping flowers fresh for a longer period of time.

[ROKUJURO]

This cooling effect is indeed used in the earthenware pottery of a number of cultures. Asian stoneware is usually water-tight, but sometimes larger impurities like feldspar grains can open up a small gap, allowing liquids to sip out. We see that especially in old IGA or SHIGARAKI ware. 

[PietroParis]

I just found that my tokkuri may have a somewhat illustrious provenance. It really looks like this one, which was sold ten years ago in Paris from the collection of Kenzo Takada:

 

 

(for the record, I paid much less than the price it made at that auction)

 

Cheers, Pietro

[ROKUJURO]

Pietro,

congratulations!

[Bugyotsuji]

This calls for a drink!

[PietroParis]

To give some company to my tokkuri, I bought an affordable sake cup in an art gallery in Paris:

 

 

The maker of the cup is one Shigeyoshi Morioka (b. 1948), from a village named Amano near Mt Koya in Wakayama Prefecture (I could not find it on google maps, but I did find a place named Shimoamano 下天野 ). Here is a blog post by somebody who visited that potter.

 

Cheers, Pietro