Bizen Hidasuki Sake Cup

This is a new Bizen *hidasuki* (fire-cord) sake cup by the prodigious talent Juroku Harada, a master who studied old Bizen alongside the great contributor to the craft, Matasaburo Katsura, who famously remarked that Harada’s potential was "frightening." Fired in a reduction atmosphere, the bluish surface is imbued with a dense, rich earthy quality reminiscent of old Bizen. Through the polishing effect of sake, this bluish-gray surface will take on a deeper character, as if the vessel itself is becoming intoxicated by the drink. While the coil-built, substantial form displays unhesitating spatula marks, it lacks any sense of coarseness, allowing one to enjoy the "clay" itself in its most direct form. Signed wooden box (shiho-san)
Diameter 8.3cm × Diameter 7.9cm × Height 5.8cm After graduating from Meiji University and working in the corporate world, Juroku Harada began his pottery career in 1969. He built an *ana-gama* kiln in 1971 and a climbing kiln the following year, committing himself fully to the ceramic arts. Starting in 1975, he studied old Bizen by visiting ancient kiln sites under the guidance of Bizen scholar Matasaburo Katsura. In 1991, he built an *ana-gama* kiln on Amidayama in Ushimado. He creates jars, tea ceremony utensils, and *ha-zara* (leaf-shaped plates), primarily using coiling techniques with some use of the potter's wheel. He has held active solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, and elsewhere. In 1983, he held a joint exhibition at the National Museum of Ethnology in Australia with Kenji Funaki of Fushina ware. He received the Japan Ceramic Society Award in 2000. In 2002, his work was exhibited and acquired for the opening commemorative exhibition of the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu. In 2005, his work was acquired by the New Orleans Museum of Art.