Bizen ware mortar sake cup

This Bizen mortar sake cup is by Yoshinobu Morimoto, an artist with a superior aesthetic sense who is constantly evolving in his approach to clay, firing, and craftsmanship. The clay, which emits a faint luster, features a complex hue that appears as both shiso-red and brown, and its characterful surface strikes a balance between rigidity and withered simplicity, much like old Bizen ware. He has masterfully converted a Bizen mortar into a small sake vessel, retaining its weathered, decaying atmosphere while achieving a beauty suitable for a sake cup through the sharp, rhythmic application of sesame ash glaze. The iron content that erupted from the clay during firing and the high proportion of minerals act as a positive "complexity," bridging the worlds of the mortar and the sake vessel.

View blog post about the mortar sake cup Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Diameter 7.9cm × Diameter 6.9cm × Height 4.0cm Yoshinobu Morimoto was born in Okayama Prefecture in 1976. He completed the Bizen Pottery Center program in 1996. After working independently, he held his first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 2004. Since then, he has held annual solo exhibitions throughout Japan, centered in Tokyo. He was selected for the Tanabe Museum of Art’s "Tea Ceremony Modeling Exhibition" in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2008, he exhibited at the "Contemporary Artists' Sake Vessels Exhibition" at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo. In 2009, he exhibited at the "Contemporary Artists' Tea Bowl Exhibition" at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo. He continues to hold solo exhibitions in various locations, including a 2010 feature on Yoshinobu Morimoto at Tenmaya, Okayama.