another pot collection

[JeffS73]

No , no , no and no. lol. There is no titanium, no cobalt. Why do you think there is titanium? That would opacify the glaze. I haven't played around with it

There is a long time feud between the Tokoname-based potters and the Kyoto-based. The Japanese potters are like the b-nut forum, lots of drama.

Haha, OK! Well, titanium can seed crystallisation, it doesn't take much, and the crystals take a different form. But this could also be kiln / firing / holding temp. Really I just know that koyos glaze changed quite a bit over time.

I figured the blue that comes out was from another coloring agent, is it really just copper, perhaps with more flux?

 

[NaoTK]

the floating blue patches are areas of higher Silica content. This causes the colloidal blue effect.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Have you noticed how Koyos crystalline green glazes changed over time?

Through a series of interviews with Aiba Kouichirou, and subsequently with this son and wife, I built a relative chronology of Koyo's stamps and pot shapes. I then tried to overlay his oribe glazes on top of these known dates to create a timeline that could illustrate the 'evolution of Koyo's Oribe'.... but it has been very difficult to do so. I have a folder with--what appears to me to be--over 25 variations of oribe by Koyo.

The stamp and shape chronology was supposed to be published in a magazine before it seized production.

I own 3 very early examples of 'oribe' from the Koyo kiln.
- The first (the hexagon) lacks the crystals but was described as 'old oribe' to me and was actually made by Koyo's father, Aiba Bunkichi.
- The round bowl is from a pre-1970's era before he had received his stamps but after he had founded the kiln and name, when Koyo was producing round pots almost exclusively.
- The final was produced in a heavy oil kiln before he was forced to shut it down and replace it with a gas kiln in 1978.

I also listed some fun rectangles while I was digging in that folder -- all 3 are impossible to date, according to Koyo himself; 1983 to 2000 is a possible date-range for each, give or take

 

[Colorado]

Some crazy awesome knowledge in this thread!

And really sweet pots @WEI !

 

[WEI]

moving away from glazed for the rest of the pots, here is a set of two rectangles with the signature gourd stamp of Koshosen, the best and least prolific of the Yamaaki kiln’s three generations of potters.



I’m a big fan of the worm-eaten/“mushikui” style; in my opinion, it evokes a ‘wild’ characteristic uncommon in unglazed pots. Mushikui pots have become difficult to source in recent years. Shohin mushikui pots by Koshosen are much rarer than his larger rectangles and ovals.

the larger one has developed some nice patina with deep fissures wrapping around the edges and onto the feet:





it is one of several options for my RMJ:



the smaller one is in a classic rectangle with sloped walls, a thin lower band “eaten through” by fissures, and cut feet - great workmanship





this came from the shohin pot collection of Junichiro Tanaka at Aichi-en. There were many other antique pots on shelves that I unfortunately did not have the time to browse, as I had to catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

more pots incoming!

 

[JeffS73]

moving away from glazed for the rest of the pots, here is a set of two rectangles with the signature gourd stamp of Koshosen, the best and least prolific of the Yamaaki kiln’s three generations of potters.

View attachment 576092

I’m a big fan of the worm-eaten/“mushikui” style; in my opinion, it evokes a ‘wild’ characteristic uncommon in unglazed pots. Mushikui pots have become difficult to source in recent years. Shohin mushikui pots by Koshosen are much rarer than his larger rectangles and ovals.

the larger one has developed some nice patina with deep fissures wrapping around the edges and onto the feet:

View attachment 576093

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it is one of several options for my RMJ:

View attachment 576095

the smaller one is in a classic rectangle with sloped walls, a thin lower band “eaten through” by fissures, and cut feet - great workmanship

View attachment 576096

View attachment 576097

this came from the shohin pot collection of Junichiro Tanaka at Aichi-en. There were many other antique pots on shelves that I unfortunately did not have the time to browse, as I had to catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

more pots incoming!

There was a great display at taikan-ten thus year featuring these pots. I did a short favebook post on it if you're interested: Yamaaki Mushikui at Taikan Ten

 

[Attmos]

Apologies for trying to be more helpful

@WEI sorry for the derail.

I really do apologize. Life isn't great for me right now, but that's no excuse to take it out on others. I'm sorry.

 

[JeffS73]

All the best Attmos, I hope your situation improves.

 

[Attmos]

All the best Attmos, I hope your situation improves.

Thank you, I appreciate the support.

 

[WEI]

the final pot and current capstone of my collection: a 13x11 inch unglazed nakawatari rectangle by Qing potter Houseihouzo, from Seiji Morimae’s collection. Seiji is the owner of Uchiku-tei/S-cube and an avid collector of suiseki and antique pots. He acquired this piece from the now-deceased Japanese bonsai and suiseki collector Kazuhiro Akimoto. I happened to nab this one before Seiji could post it for sale - it was one of the few items in his “antiques” building without a price tag. He was kind enough to bring out Akimoto’s privately-published book, “The Way to Mt. Sumeru,” to point out the pot’s history:



now to the actual pot itself. the proportions and detail on corners and feet were what first drew me in. over a century of patina on this pot, but most is uniquely collected on the rim, which overshadows the widest portion of the pot’s main body. several angles below.









on a side note - Uchiku-tei, for those interested in visiting, is an absolute pain in the ass to get to on your own. if I didn’t have my gf with me (she speaks fluent Japanese), I would have never made it there. there is no uber/GO service, very few taxis, and next to no public transit for the final leg of the trip from Tokyo. apple/google maps is also extremely unreliable; it took us over 3 very stressful hours to get there. that said, I’d say it was worth the stress:

 

[JeffS73]

the final pot and current capstone of my collection: a 13x11 inch unglazed nakawatari rectangle by Qing potter Houseihouzo, from Seiji Morimae’s collection. Seiji is the owner of Uchiku-tei/S-cube and an avid collector of suiseki and antique pots. He acquired this piece from the now-deceased Japanese bonsai and suiseki collector Kazuhiro Akimoto. I nabbed this one before Seiji could post it on the Japanese Uchiku-tei site for sale. He was kind enough to bring out Akimoto’s privately-published book, “The Way to Mt. Sumeru,” to point out the pot’s history:

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now to the actual pot itself. several angles showing the shape and patina buildup. the overall proportions and detail on corners and feet are what sealed the deal for me.

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on a side note - Uchiku-tei, for those interested in visiting, is an absolute pain in the ass to get to on your own. if I didn’t have my gf with me (she speaks fluent Japanese), I would have never made it there. there is no uber/GO service, very few taxis, and next to no public transit for the final leg of the trip from Tokyo. apple/google maps is also extremely unreliable; it took us over 3 very stressful hours to get there. that said, I’d say it was worth the stress:

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Fantastic post Wei, thank you. And what a wonderful pot! We realised a visit to Uchiku-tei was impossible for us this time, but next time I will have more language and will rent a car.

 

[WEI]

Fantastic post Wei, thank you. And what a wonderful pot! We realised a visit to Uchiku-tei was impossible for us this time, but next time I will have more language and will rent a car.

renting a car is probably bar none the best option and makes uchikutei a manageable day trip. we had other things on our itinerary thay we had to move… shunka-en unfortunately dropped off my list this trip