Bizen Guinomi

This new Bizen sake cup, fresh from the kiln, is the work of Takashi Soga, an artist challenging the aesthetic of antiquity by recreating the environment in which ancient Bizen pottery was fired. To replicate the style of the Old Bizen period, he avoids the use of modern firebricks; as a result, the kiln operates with a thermal efficiency that defies modern conventions. This approach allows him to transcend contemporary aesthetics and achieve an exquisite "earthiness" that rivals that of Old Bizen. The piece was fired with a generous coating of straw to draw out "goma" (ash glaze), creating a composition where the liquefied ash appears to flow down the surface. The clay, rich in iron content, results in a base of deep purple, with iron seeping through in places to react with the straw, creating impressive white thread-like goma markings.

See blog post about Takashi Soga's sake ware Includes signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Diameter 6.8cm x Diameter 6.7cm x Height 5.5cm Takashi Soga was born in Tokyo in 1984. He studied under Jun Isezaki in 2009 and built his own kiln in Kuku-i, Bizen City, in 2012. He began his independent career as a potter in 2013.