Hikidashi-guro sake cup

This *hikidashi-guro* (pulled-out black) sake cup is a latest work fresh from the kiln by Masao Akiya, an artist who studied under Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki and creates works brimming with unique originality within a modern spirit. Created using a wild technique where the piece is pulled from the front stoking hole during firing and rapidly cooled, it exhibits a transformation of natural ash glaze and clay texture that reaches another dimension. By shaping it to swell outward, the vertical line patterns create even more interesting wrinkles, and those wrinkles produce a stunning gradation of blue and black upon the jewel-like surface of the *hikidashi-guro*. Inside the cup, the *goma* (sesame) glaze has turned to a gel state and solidified during rapid cooling, forming amber-like crystals that provide the ultimate pleasure when sake is poured.

See the blog post from Kawaguchi Tourakuen Signed box to follow (please allow some time for shipping)
Diameter 7.3cm x Diameter 7.0cm x Height 7.2cm Masao Akiya was born in Saitama in 1968. He began studying under Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki in 1998, and after a ten-year apprenticeship, he built his own kiln in Bizen and became independent in 2008. His first kiln firing took place in 2009. He has been selected for the Tanabe Museum of Art’s "Tea Ceremony Modeling Exhibition" and the Japan Kōgei Association’s Chugoku Branch Exhibition, and has received awards including the Okayama Prefectural Art Exhibition Prize and the Encouragement Award.