Ibe Shuten

This is a Bizen sake cup by Mitsuru Isezaki, a leading figure in Bizen ware. The entire piece features a mellow "hidasuki" (fire-cord) pattern, created through a kiln-firing process akin to steaming. It is one size larger than Mitsuru Isezaki’s standard sake cups, allowing you to fully enjoy the red-toned coloration produced by the evenly distributed hidasuki. It is a gentle piece that is perfect for everyday use.
（There are almost no signs of use.） Original signed box (shiho-zan)
Diameter 5.9cm × Diameter 5.9cm × Height 5.7cm Born in 1934 as the eldest son of Intangible Cultural Property holder Yozan Isezaki, Mitsuru Isezaki learned pottery techniques from his father from a young age and majored in sculpture in the Special Art Course at Okayama University. As an authentic tea ceramicist, he pursued Momoyama-style forms, textures, and firing techniques. He utilized both climbing kilns and medieval-style anagama kilns depending on the piece, and insisted on firing with pine wood rather than electric or gas kilns. He became a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1964 and received the Kaneshige Toyo Award in 1974. In 1994, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Merit Award, and in 1998, the 15th Tanabe Museum of Art Grand Prize. In March of that same year, he was designated as a holder of an Okayama Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property. He passed away in August 2011 at the age of 77.
Awards: Kaneshige Toyo Award, Okayama Prefecture Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Merit Award, Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Form Exhibition, and many others / Prefectural Exhibition Guest Artist