Bizen Shio Kiln Tea Bowl

This is a Bizen salt-kiln tea bowl by the second generation Fujiwara Rakuzan, a holder of an Okayama Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property, who was born as the third son of the master craftsman, the first generation Fujiwara Rakuzan, and went on to create numerous masterpieces. It is a graceful and gentle work, like a dancing celestial maiden, that completely dispels the rugged and masculine image typically associated with Bizen tea bowls. As implied by its name, "Crescent Moon," a vivid, semi-circular "nuke" (fire-mark) adorns the front of the piece. Fired in a traditional salt kiln—a rarity even within Bizen pottery—the bowl is a magnificent masterpiece, featuring the pale gray tones unique to salt-firing, beautifully accented by stunning cinnabar-colored kiln transformations. Signed wooden storage box (shiho-zan) included.
Diameter 12.7cm x Diameter 12.6cm x Height 7.4cm The second generation Fujiwara Rakuzan was born as the third son of the master craftsman, the first generation Fujiwara Rakuzan. He learned the potter's craft under his father from an early age, and succeeded to the name Rakuzan II following his father's passing in 1930. Renowned as the "Rakuzan of tea bowls and incense burners," he was certified as a national master craft artist in 1948, and became an Okayama Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property holder in 1954. He also received the Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Arts and Culture Merit Award and the Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays. He passed away on September 3, 1996.