Bizen Gourd-Shaped Sake Bottle

This is a newly fired Bizen gourd-shaped sake flask by Takashi Soga, who challenges the aesthetic of the past by recreating the same environment in which ancient Bizen ware was fired. To replicate the style of ancient Bizen, he avoids the use of refractory bricks and other modern materials; consequently, the kiln is fired in a way that defies all modern common sense regarding thermal efficiency, resulting in a superb earthen quality that transcends contemporary aesthetics and rivals that of ancient Bizen. He is also meticulous about the quality of the clay, using high-grade rice field clay thought to have been used in Momoyama-period pottery, achieving a remarkable earthen texture through the fine grain, the emergence of iron particles, and the way the luster appears. The distinctively tilted neck, reminiscent of ancient Bizen gourd pieces, provides a wonderful tactile experience along with its nonchalant stance, and when in use, it produces the exquisite "kok-kok-kok..." sound from which the sake flask (tokkuri) gets its name. The *hidasuki* (fire-cord) markings that cling stickily to the surface are magnificent, and together with the azuki-bean colored surface worn away by bursting iron particles and stones, they construct a world of ancient, time-worn Bizen. (Though slightly wobbly, it becomes stable when filled with sake.)

View blog post about Takashi Soga's sake flasks Includes signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Rim 2.5cm x Body diameter 9.5cm x Body diameter 9.4cm x Height 17.6cm Capacity approx. 360cc Takashi Soga was born in Tokyo in 1984. He apprenticed under Jun Isezaki in 2009 and built his own kiln in Kukui, Bizen City, in 2012. He began his independent pottery career in 2013.