Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well.
This may come as a sudden topic, but I imagine many of you have visited the town of Ibe.
The town of Ibe is home to a popular tourist destination: the gallery of the late Mitsuru Isezaki.
It includes Yozankyo, a studio and gallery famous for its thatched roof, and the Togyo-an located across from it.
Displayed there is a magnificent large sake bottle with "hidasuki" (fire-cord) markings, created by Mitsuru Isezaki during his lifetime.
The flamboyant hidasuki style of the Isezaki school, which was said to be the envy of even the late Toyo Kaneshige,
wraps around this striking, large sake bottle, making it an incredibly impressive piece.
While that particular bottle is not for sale, its magnificent craftsmanship is something that, once seen, will be forever etched into your memory.
At the request of a customer who desperately wanted to obtain and display such a hidasuki large sake bottle,
I asked Shin Isezaki to take on the difficult task of creating one, and I just received word that it was completed the other day.
Because it must be fired using a massive sagger, there are only two specific spots in the kiln where it can be placed.
It is a stunning work that was only brought to completion after three separate kiln firings, disregarding all considerations of profit.
I am told that the shape of this large sake bottle, with its extremely constricted neck, makes the firing process alone an immense challenge.
Amidst those conditions, a miracle occurred where both the beautiful hidasuki and the form of the large bottle were realized simultaneously,
and Shin was beaming with a wide smile over the successful result.
To see with my own eyes two pairs of these extra-large sake bottles—standing over 50cm tall—by the father-son duo of Mitsuru and Shin Isezaki,
is, as a pottery dealer, the greatest joy I could ever imagine.
The height is approximately 55cm, and the width is about 30cm at its widest point,
while the mouth rim is about 7cm wide, with an inner diameter that is just wide enough to fit a thumb.