Bizen Sake Cup

This is a slightly earlier Bizen sake cup by Kosuke Kaneshige, the leader of the Kaneshige school, whose father was the legendary reviver of Bizen ware and Living National Treasure, Toyo Kaneshige. It features a golden *goma* (sesame) glaze with a smooth, vitreous surface often seen on his tea bowls. The thick, bright brown clay body, which seems as though the iron content condensed within the earth has seeped out all at once, is unique to Kosuke-sensei. The foot, known as a *tokin-kodai* with a raised center, is fashioned with a swift, clean execution that leaves a very refined impression. Signed wooden box (shiho-zan)
Diameter 6.4cm × Diameter 6.3cm × Height 6.0cm Kosuke Kaneshige is the third son of Living National Treasure Toyo Kaneshige. He graduated from the Sculpture Department of Tokyo University of the Arts in 1968 and completed his postgraduate studies there in 1970. He began exhibiting his ceramic works in 1975, and after serving as a lecturer at Tokai University, he returned home in 1977. He built a climbing kiln in 1982. He creates objects, tea utensils, flower vases, tableware, and sake vessels. In 1991, he created the ceramic mural "Light and Wind" for the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Building in Okayama. He received the Japan Ceramic Society Award in 1994. In 1997, he exhibited at the Bizen Ware Paris Exhibition. He has held solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, and other locations. In 2012, he was designated as a Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property by Okayama Prefecture.