Sake bottle

This is an earlier work by the gifted master Mori Togaku, a Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property holder who pursues and transcends the style of Old Bizen. It is a piece that combines the impressive, large-scale form characteristic of an *oazuke* (large serving) sake bottle with the understated, elegant firing typical of Togaku’s work. The *tsuchi-aji* (texture of the clay) is particularly magnificent; the subtle shifts between reddish-brown, dark brown, light brown, and white colors create a rich aesthetic that never tires the eye. Furthermore, the surface has been refined with a spatula as if tanned, allowing small embedded pebbles to create striking wrinkles in the surface, lending an even more weathered, sophisticated quality to this imposing piece. (Although this is a slightly older work, please note that there is almost no sign of use.) Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Rim 4.0cm x Body diameter 10.3cm x Body diameter 10.3cm x Height 15.6cm, Capacity approx. 670cc Born as the eldest son of Mori Hideji, a descendant of the six prominent Bizen pottery families, Mori Togaku graduated from the Special Art Course at Okayama University in 1959. He returned to his family home in 1962 to enter the world of ceramics. He was selected for the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition the following year and became a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1966. Captivated by Old Bizen, he began researching large-scale kilns around 1972. In 1977, he built a 46-meter-long large kiln in Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture, and conducted a firing in 1980. Utilizing that data, he constructed the 53-meter-long Samukaze Large Kiln in Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture, in 1983, successfully firing it for the first time in 1986. Since then, he has conducted firings every four to five years. In 1996, he was designated a holder of an Okayama Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property. In 1997, he exhibited at the Bizen Ware Paris Exhibition. In 2002, he became the first Bizen ware artist to receive the Japan Ceramic Society Award. In 2008, the new Samukaze Large Kiln (85m long, 6m wide, 3m high) was completed, with a firing held in 2015.
Awards: Numerous awards including the Japan Ceramic Society Award and Gold Prize, the Sanyo Shimbun Prize, and the Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Merit Award / Prefectural Exhibition Juror