Bizen Guinomi

This Bizen sake cup is by Kosuke Kaneshige, the leader of the Kaneshige school and son of the late Living National Treasure Toyo Kaneshige, the great restorer of Bizen ware. The faintly gleaming *haikaburi* (ash-covered) glaze shifts to yellow and other hues in various places, creating a truly elegant *yohen* (kiln transformation). The subtly tinted orange *nuke* (unfired areas) is also beautiful; this sophisticated coloration, which only the Kaneshige school can achieve, is surely the result of decades of dedicated refinement. The orange hues will appear even more vivid when in use. Its comfort in the hand and the way it enhances the flavor of sake might make it all too easy to drink a little too much. Signed wooden box (shiho-san) included.
Diameter 7.6cm x Diameter 7.5cm x Height 4.6cm Kosuke Kaneshige is the third son of Living National Treasure Toyo Kaneshige. He graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts with a degree in sculpture in 1968 and completed his graduate studies in sculpture there in 1970. He began exhibiting ceramic works in 1975, and after serving as a lecturer at Tokai University's School of Letters, he returned to his hometown in 1977. He built a climbing kiln in 1982. He produces objects, tea utensils, flower vases, tableware, and sake vessels. In 1991, he created the ceramic wall piece "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, and he continues to hold solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, and elsewhere. In 2012, he was designated a Holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property by Okayama Prefecture.