Nothing I can say can convey the rugged beauty locked up of this Shino chawan, made in 2015, signed and enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Matsuzaki Ken is one of the most important potters of our time.

Ken Matsuzaki was born in Tokyo in 1950 and received a degree in Ceramic Art from Tamagawa University School of Fine Arts, Tokyo. After graduating he moved to Mashiko in 1972 to apprentice with Tatsuzo Shimaoka (who himself had moved to Mashiko to study with Shoji Hamada)...

Something about the pattern on this Kinsai vase by Ono Hakuko screams vintage, like a classic episode of the partridge family.  There is a great deal of life about it, some type of inner joy, the gold repetition like the lights reflecting off a mirrored ball.  It comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Yuri-Kinsai Hana-tate. 
Size, W 8.5  cm ( 3-1/2 inches)  H 24.0  cm ( 9-1/2 inches) 
Condition, Excellent 
From Aichi prefecture, Hakuko was trained by h...

Dawn breaks over snow laden boulders, the shadows waxing lavender on this spectacular incense burner by Kaneta Masanao enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hagi Haku-yu Kamahen Kurinuki Koro. This style of digging the work out of the clay rather than forming the clay on a wheel has been a signature of this artists work for more than two decades...

These expressive forms utilize the clays natural textures to bring out the depths of the oribe green, and electric shimmers of blue flash on the surface in random patterns like heat lightning.  This sake set was created by the very popular and hard to find Higashida Shigemasa and come enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes titled Oribe Tokkuri and Guinomi respectively. 
Size, The Tokkuri: is W 9.5  cm ( 3-3/4 inches)  H 14.6  cm (5-3/4 inches)  Size, Guinomi: is W 5.2  ...

A single bead of green glass hangs like an emerald earring from the “mimi” on this Shigaraki vase by Takahashi Shunsai enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 10 inches (26 cm) tall and in fine condition...

Guinomi creates a very organic feel.  The bulbous form, like some tuber or bulb found in nature, a sake-flower bulb, shows scars where kutsuki (other items) have fused to it in the heat of the conflagration.  Allow this bulb to grow to fruition, blossoming into a shared night of conversation and company or a quiet night of music and moonlight…
Size, The Tokkuri: is W 10.2  cm ( 4 inches)  H 13.6  cm (5-1/2 inches) 
Size, Guinomi: is W 7.7  cm ( 3-1/4 inches)  H 5.5  cm ...

Once again Abe Anjin has proved his mastery of traditional form with this superb rendition of Momoyama styling enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Bizen Hanaire,signed on base as well inside the vase...

A faceted bowl by Hamada Shinsaku exhibiting the superb sense of design to be expected of this illustrious lineage enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shio-yu Tetsu Sabi Mentori Chawan (Salt Glazed Iron Faceted Tea Bowl).  The form is very much in the Mingei taste, A beautifully turned wan-gata with thick walls which have been sliced away, creating an architectural quality.  To this is added a dusting of salt which textures the surface.  Like many great bowls it must be held to ...

A multi faceted Vase by Hamada Shinsaku coated in swipes of blue-salt glaze enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shio-yu Ai Henko (Salt Glazed Blue Vase).  On one side is a blown blue spatter like Jackson Pollock, yet on the opposite fingers traces like Shiraga Kazuo.  The rich blues are punctuated by dustings of rust.  Either side is a pleasure. 
Size,W 15.8 cm ( 6-1/4 inches)  H  cm ( 8-1/4 inches) 
Condition, Excellent 
Born the second son of Hamada Sho...

A seminal work by Wakao Toshisada adorned with the quintessential elements of this artists work, a moon in gold over silver flowers on a gray Nezumi-Shino fold-textured ground.  It comes in the original signed wooden box titled very simply Nezumi Shino Hanaike.  Although I am not a botanist, I imagine the yu-gao (bottle gourd flower, called the face of evening in Japanese) opening to reveal its splendor to the rising moon, visible through the drying autumn grasses.  A superb example of the em...

An Iga Kogo by Kishimoto Kennin and Tamba Kogo by Nishihata Tadashi, both superb examples of their craft and tradition, both by these prominent artists and both enclosed in the original signed wooden boxes.  The Kennin piece is a small square reminiscent of a pillar stone from some long lost temple, the edges covered in earth, the round top lost in a covering of moss.  Here he has breathed new life into the traditional form, both paying homage and yet leaving his indelible mark on it to carry ...

Spectacular kiln affects dapple this playful form by artist Sugimoto Sadamitsu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Iga Hanire.  Ash has encrusted the base so thickly he has had to grind it off, this happens when the piece gets buried up to a point in the ash on the kiln flooror up against a wall, and the works come up together this cooled encrustation.  That combines with the natural sunrise colors or “Hi-iro” of the clay, and the glassy green beads wrapping around the jocula...

Extraordinary wood fired chawan, Shino with impressed leaves, made by one of the best contemporary ceramics artists, Nic Collins.

After leaving Derby College in 1988 Nic Collins opened his first pottery at Postbridge in the middle of Dartmoor, Devon. It was on the site of a disused gunpowder manufacturing facility and was known as Powdermills Pottery.

He built a 60 cu ft wood fired kiln and produced one-off studio pieces and a range of domestic wares...

Camellia blossom on this flattened form by Ito Motohiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nunome Tsubaki Mon Kabin (Cloth Texture Vase with Camellia Design). It is 10 inches (26 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
The artist is a famous Kasama potter, best known for his nunome pattern and exceptional designs. Motohiko was born in Fukuoka prefecture, 1939, and graduated the Tokyo University of Art in 1964, then moved on to advanced courses there, finishing in 1966...

A very large container of this artist's signature textured gray clay by Koinuma Michio enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Chomon Tsubo (Sculpted Tsubo). Impressive, it is 28 cm (11 inches)diameter, roughly the same height and in excellent condition. For a simiolar piece see the second illustration in "To" volume ten.
Koinuma Michio is a compelling figure unique among contemporary artists...

A profusion of color descends the granulated surface of this traditional form by legendary potter Nakagawa Jinenbo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Chosen Karatsu Mimitsuki Hana-ire.  The grandiose embellishment of color creates a sublime sense of tension between the dark glazed and color infusion.  Although very much in the Chosen Karatsu tradition, the execution is unequivocally contemporary. 
Size, W 14.8 cm ( 6 inches)  H 24.5  cm ( 9-1/2 inches) 
Conditi...

Square kaku-gata form vase with paddled texture under a rich breaking Oribe glaze.

Stoneware and glaze

8.2" x 4.5"

ash blasted and bursting with inclusions, this chawan tea bowl by Otani Shiro comes with everything you could want from this representative Shigaraki potter.  Over a terracotta clay burnt ash gray a smattering of pale flying ash provides the backdrop for molten drips of foggy green and yellow shizen yu glaze.  The shape conforms beautifully to the palm, showing the master skill of this important artist. 
Size, W 12.8 cm ( 5-1/4inches)  H 9.9  cm ( 4 inches) 
Condition, Excellen...