Mount Bizen Shuten

This is a new Bizen "Yama-nomi" (mountain sake cup) by Yoshiteru Koriki, a popular young artist and apprentice to the master Sozan Kaneshige. Titled "Yama-nomi," this work is crafted using a mountain clay base, which produces a matte red texture distinct from that of standard Bizen field clay. The orange hue, fired through to the core rather than being underfired—reminiscent of Nanban ware—is wonderfully rustic and wabi-sabi in character. The inherent difficulty of working with mountain clay has worked in the piece's favor, minimizing deliberate artistic artifice and contributing to its wild, natural aesthetic. Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Diameter 6.8cm × Diameter 6.7cm × Height 5.0cm Yoshiteru Koriki was born in Ako City, Hyogo Prefecture. Influenced by his father’s love for pottery, he pursued a career in ceramics. After graduating from high school in 1989, he studied under the masters Sozan Kaneshige and his son Yuho Kaneshige. After seven years of apprenticeship, he established his own climbing kiln in Shizutani, Bizen City, in 1996, and successfully fired his first kiln the following year. He held his first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 2000 and has held annual solo exhibitions ever since. In 1999, his work was selected for the "Northern Sweets Containers I’d Like to Use" exhibition, and in 2002, he was selected for the "Tea Ceremony Forms" exhibition for the first time.