Gold-Leaf Sake Cup: Hagakure

This is a gold-leaf sake cup titled "Hagakure" by Toru Ichikawa, who made a stunning debut after studying under Ryuichi Kakurezaki. While one is immediately drawn to the avant-garde design brimming with originality, holding it in your hands reveals the immense passion he pours into expressing the beauty of the clay itself. Creating these beautiful curves and edges requires a profound understanding of the clay's nature and an exhaustive, painstaking amount of time and effort to finish; it is a work born from forging the clay with single-minded dedication, much like a master swordsmith. By doing so, wild, rugged cracks and textures—impossible to create by hand alone—emerge on the surface of the vessel, achieving a magnificent harmony with the color and volume of the glaze, which is specially blended to suit each type of clay. This piece, named "Hagakure," features a sense of volume in its gold-leaf finish reminiscent of liquid metal, paired with a single streak of crimson glaze like fresh blood, evoking a world where stillness and motion switch with the precision of a sword fight. Signed wooden box to be provided at a later date (please allow some time for delivery).
Diameter 6.0cm x Diameter 5.4cm x Height 7.3cm Toru Ichikawa was born in Tokyo. He began his apprenticeship under Ryuichi Kakurezaki in June 2011 and became independent in Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, in January 2015.