Decorative plate

This is an earlier decorative plate by the visionary artist Mori Togaku, a Prefectural Designated Important Intangible Cultural Property holder who relentlessly pursues and seeks to surpass the tradition of Old Bizen. The design, created using an inlay technique reminiscent of the late Shoji Kamoda—with whom Togaku once held a three-person exhibition—is striking. The whitish clay characteristic of the Samukaze style perfectly constructs an inorganic worldview, while the weathered-looking inlay combined with the simple form gives the piece the feel of primitive art. It offers a glimpse into another facet of Togaku, an artist known for his ambitious large-kiln firings and his quest to create works that transcend Old Bizen. Due to its high level of perfection, it can also be enjoyed as a decorative wall piece. Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Diameter 20.5cm x Diameter 20.3cm x Height 3.0cm Mori Togaku was born the eldest son of Mori Hideji, a descendant of the six prominent Bizen pottery families, and graduated from the special art course at Okayama University in 1959. He returned to his family home in 1962 to pursue the path of ceramics. He was selected for the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition the following year and became a full member of the Japan Kogei Association in 1966. Fascinated by Old Bizen, he began researching large kilns around 1972. In 1977, he built a 46-meter-long large kiln in Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture, and completed his first firing in 1980. Utilizing the data gathered, he constructed the 53-meter-long Samukaze Large Kiln in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, in 1983, successfully completing his first firing there in 1986. Since then, he has conducted kiln firings every four to five years. He was certified as a Prefectural Designated Important Intangible Cultural Property holder by Okayama Prefecture in 1996. He exhibited at the Bizen Ware Paris Exhibition in 1997. In 2002, he became the first Bizen ware artist to receive the Japan Ceramic Society Award. His new Samukaze large kiln (85 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 3 meters high) was completed in 2008, with its first firing taking place in 2015.
Awards: Japan Ceramic Society Award and Gold Prize, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Merit Award, and many others / Prefectural Exhibition Juror