Ibe Guinomi

This Ibe sake cup is a work by the master craftsman Mitsuru Isezaki, who loved Bizen ware and contributed greatly to the Bizen region. It is a piece that unites a rich, bright shiso-colored surface with a grey, metallic, copper-like texture. The gold glaze applied over both clay bodies further enhances the quality of the clay. The deeply flavorful yellow sesame glaze and the unadorned style vividly embody Master Isezaki’s philosophy of pottery. This Ibe sake cup is a work by the master craftsman Mitsuru Isezaki, who loved Bizen ware and contributed greatly to the Bizen region. It is a piece that unites a rich, bright shiso-colored surface with a grey, metallic, copper-like texture. The gold glaze applied over both clay bodies further enhances the quality of the clay. The deeply flavorful yellow sesame glaze and the unadorned style vividly embody Master Isezaki’s philosophy of pottery. Signed wooden box (shiho-san)
Diameter 6.4cm × 6.2cm × Height 5.9cm Born in 1934 as the eldest son of Intangible Cultural Property holder Yozan Isezaki, Mitsuru Isezaki learned pottery techniques from his father from a young age and majored in sculpture at the special art department of Okayama University. As an authentic practitioner of tea ceramics, he pursued Momoyama-style forms, clay textures, and firing techniques. He selectively used climbing kilns and medieval anagama kilns depending on the work, insisting on firing with pine wood and never using electric or gas kilns. He became a full member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1964 and received the Kaneshige Toyo Award in 1974. In 1994, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Merit Award, and in 1998, the 15th Tanabe Museum of Art Grand Prize. In March of that year, he was designated as a Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property holder. He passed away in August 2011 at the age of 77.
Awards: Kaneshige Toyo Award, Okayama Prefecture Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Merit Award, Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Form Exhibition, and many others / Invited contributor to prefectural exhibitions