Original Wooden Box
Showa
D11cm×22.5cm H24cm
This is an extraordinarily powerful and commanding flat-sided flower vase (Hana-Henko) crafted by Kanjiro Kawai (1890–1966), one of the most influential masters of modern Japanese ceramics and a leading figure of the Mingei (Folk Art) movement.
The crisp, rectangular flat body combined with the bold, expressive underglaze painting represents Kanjiro Kawai’s most iconic, definitive, and highly sought-after aesthetic. The abstract floral brushwork, rendered with magnificent fluidity and vigor, encapsulates Kawai's unique artistic language—capturing the raw, surging vitality of nature with deep poetic sensitivity.
What truly elevates this particular piece into a league of its own is its extraordinary, unusually grand scale.
While the standard and most frequently seen examples of this specific rectangular form stand around 21 cm in height, this exceptional masterpiece boasts a rare and impressive height of 24.0 cm and a width of 22.5 cm. This difference of a few centimeters exponentially increases the vase's physical volume, mass, and three-dimensional presence, allowing Kawai's dynamic brushwork to reverberate with immense, breathtaking power. Given the technical difficulties and heightened risks of warping or cracking during the firing of such large, flat-sided vessels, this piece stands as a testament to the artist's peak confidence and creative ambition.
More than a functional vessel, this vase serves as a profound sculptural monument that will anchor any interior with unmatched artistic pedigree. It represents a museum-quality treasure that would be the crown jewel of any serious Japanese ceramic or Mingei collection.
Kanjiro KAWAI（河井寛次郎）
1890 - 1966
Kanjirou Kawai was a Kyoto-based potter within the folk tradition of Japanese and Korean ceramics and a key figure in Mingei (Japanese folk art movement). He was a long-time friend of Shōji Hamada, Soetsu Yanagi, and Bernard Leach with whom he co-founded the Japan Folk Art Association in 1926. He refused all official honors, such as the designation of “Living National Treasures,” He often decorated his works with bold, semiabstract blossom motifs, which he painted freely in under-glaze cobalt blue, iron brown, and copper red.
Contact about the Item