Bizen ware mortar sake cup

This is a Bizen mortar sake cup from Yoshinobu Morimoto's latest exhibition. It is part of a series inspired by the Muromachi period, an era when Bizen ware swept across Japan as everyday utility ware, prized for its powerful aesthetic despite its focus on practicality. Reflecting the characteristics of that time, the piece is created by stacking coils of clay and joining them on a potter's wheel, leaving the wheel marks and seams visible to create an unadorned, rustic form. In firing, the artist intentionally eschewed a focus on specific surface effects, opting instead to stack the pieces and fire them in a crowded kiln just as they were done in the past. This results in a refined, earthy finish that captures the subdued "chilled and withered" beauty so admired by practitioners of wabi-cha. Includes signed wooden box (shiho-san style).
Diameter 9.2cm x 8.7cm x Height 4.7cm

About Yoshinobu Morimoto's Latest Exhibition Yoshinobu Morimoto was born in Okayama Prefecture in 1976. He completed his studies at the Bizen Pottery Center in 1996. After working independently, he held his first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 2004. Since then, he has held annual solo exhibitions primarily in Tokyo and across the country. He was selected for the Tanabe Art Museum's "The Art of Tea" exhibition in 2005, 2006, and 2007. He exhibited at the "Contemporary Sake Ware Exhibition" at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, in 2008, and the "Contemporary Tea Bowl Exhibition" at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, in 2009. He continues to hold solo exhibitions throughout the country, including a "Yoshinobu Morimoto Special Exhibition" at Tenmaya in Okayama in 2010.