With original wooden box
Showa period
Living National Treasure
D23cm H26cm
A robust and powerful vase by Hamada Shoji, a pivotal master of the Mingei (Folk Craft) movement and a designated Living National Treasure.
This piece features a generous, well-rounded contour enveloped in multiple layered glazes (kakeawase). The dynamic interplay between the soft, opaque white glaze near the rim, the earthy mid-tones around the shoulder, and the deep, dark glaze anchoring the base creates a dramatic natural gradient.
Showcasing the rich texture of Mashiko clay along with the spontaneous movement of flowing glazes, this vessel beautifully captures the unpretentious strength and organic beauty central to Hamada's ceramic philosophy.
Shoji HAMADA（濱田庄司）
1894 - 1978
He was a potter within the folk tradition of Japanese. He was a long-time friend of Kanjiro Kawai, Soetsu Yanagi, and Bernard Leach with whom he co-founded the Japan Folk Art Association in 1926. Hamada became an important figure in the Japanese folk arts movement. After 1923, he moved to Mashiko where he rebuilt farmhouses and established his large workshop. Throughout his life, Hamada demonstrated an excellent glazing technique, using such trademark glazes as temmoku iron glaze, nuka rice-husk ash glaze, and kaki persimmon glaze. Through his frequent visits and demonstrations abroad, Hamada influenced many potters of the world in later generations as well as those of his own.
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