Bizen sake bottle

This is a Bizen sake bottle, a somewhat earlier work by the popular young artist Shunichi Fujimi, who has continued to forge ahead with solid ability and steady effort since graduating from the Bizen Ceramic Center. This piece showcases Fujimi's signature heavily fired "green sesame" glaze. The thick layer of glaze draped over the shoulder forms a greenish layer on the surface, which is then topped with a layer of granular yellow sesame glaze. Its unique turnip-shaped form and the tactile quality of the textured yellow sesame glaze evoke the image of a large pear. (This is a slightly earlier work and includes a career biography up to the year 2001; there are almost no signs of use.) Signed wooden box (double-slat lid)
Rim 3.5cm x Body diameter 11.0cm x Body diameter 11.0cm x Height 13.0cm, Capacity approx. 480cc Born in Inbe, Bizen City, Shunichi Fujimi grew up in a town of pottery, which inspired him to pursue a career as a ceramic artist from an early age. In 1989, he entered the Bizen Ceramic Center to learn the fundamentals of the craft. His dedication paid off, and he was selected for the Chugoku Branch Exhibition of the Japan Kōgei Association shortly thereafter. In 1995, he became independent, building his own climbing kiln near the Nandai kiln ruins. That same year, he won an award at the Chugoku Branch Exhibition and received the Encouragement Award at the Okayama Prefectural Exhibition. In 1998, he traveled to the United States to study ceramics while creating pottery at Western Illinois University. In 2001, he received the Excellence Award at the Chanoyu Ceramics Exhibition.