Bizen ware vase with lug handles and diamond-shaped mouth

This is an exceptional earlier Bizen ware flower vase by Kousuke Kaneshige, leader of the Kaneshige family and son of the great restorer of Bizen ware and Living National Treasure, Toyo Kaneshige. This piece dates to around 1990, shortly after Kousuke Kaneshige built his climbing kiln in Kagato. Although it is a flower vase, it displays a superb scarlet hue that makes one tempted to "nurture" it with sake; while it is wonderful for arranging flowers, the texture of its damp surface when changing the water is, in a word, magnificent. The broadly flared, diamond-shaped rim and the vigorous spatula marks on the body are truly impressive. Looking at the rim, one can almost imagine the shoulder area being cinched tightly with a cord; viewed from above, it appears softly deformed, and despite being finished with a supreme kiln change, it creates the illusion that it is still fresh from the wheel, as if it were still abundant with moist, wet clay. (*Please note that there is slight soiling due to age, which does not affect its use.) Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Diameter (including lugs) 20.8cm × Diameter 14.8cm × Height 23.0cm Kousuke Kaneshige is the third son of Living National Treasure Toyo Kaneshige. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1968 and completed his graduate studies in the same department in 1970. He began exhibiting his ceramic works in 1975, and after serving as a lecturer at Tokai University's School of Letters, he returned to his hometown in 1977. He built his climbing kiln in 1982. He produces objects, tea utensils, flower vases, tableware, and sake vessels. In 1991, he created the ceramic mural "Light and Wind" for the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance building in Okayama. He received the Japan Ceramic Society Award in 1994. In 1997, he exhibited at the Bizen Ware Exhibition in Paris. He has held solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, and other locations. In 2012, he was designated as a Holder of Okayama Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property.