Bizen ware flower vase

This is a Bizen flower vase by Togaku Mori, a genius artist designated as a prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property who pursued and surpassed the legacy of Old Bizen. Based on the potter’s mark, this appears to be an early work, likely created around 1965. The inscription on the back of the lid reads "At the semi-underground kiln," offering a glimpse into the intense creative impulses that preceded his monumental large-scale kiln projects. The *goma* (ash glaze) on the back has built up into rugged, rock-like, charred protrusions. Amidst such dramatic scenery, a chaotic aesthetic is formed, blending characteristic Bizen features—such as circular *marunuke* patches with vivid gold accents, mouse-gray *haikaburi* (ash-covered) kiln transmutation, running *goma*, and *tamadare* (beaded glaze drips)—that capture the essence of every kiln style while possessing an expression distinct from any other. Signed wooden box (double-slat lid)
Diameter 12.1cm × Diameter 12.0cm × Height 23.2cm Togaku Mori was born the eldest son of Hideji Mori, whose lineage traces back to one of the six Bizen kiln-owning families. He graduated from the Special Art Course at Okayama University in 1959. He returned to his family home in 1962 to pursue the path of pottery. He was selected for the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition the following year and became a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1966. Fascinated by Old Bizen, he began researching large kilns around 1972. In 1977, he built a 46-meter-long kiln in Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture, and conducted a firing in 1980. Using the data gained, he built the 53-meter-long Samukaze large kiln in Ushimado, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture, in 1983, successfully completing its first firing in 1986. Since then, he has conducted firings every four to five years. He was designated as a holder of an Okayama Prefecture Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1996. In 1997, he exhibited at the Bizen Ware Paris Exhibition. In 2002, he became the first Bizen ware artist to receive the Japan Ceramic Society Award. In 2008, his new Samukaze large kiln (85m long, 6m wide, 3m high) was completed, with a firing held in 2015.
Awards and honors: Japan Ceramic Society Award, Japan Ceramic Society Gold Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Merit Award, and many others / Juror for Prefectural Exhibitions