Bizen sake bottle

This is an earlier work by Kosuke Kaneshige, the leader of the Kaneshige school and son of the late Living National Treasure Toyo Kaneshige, who is revered as the great restorer of Bizen ware. It includes a pottery resume from 1987, suggesting it is a piece from that era. This sake bottle is particularly captivating for its striking and magnificent kiln-altered coloration, likely achieved through the use of exceptional clay. In direct contrast to its solid and stable appearance, it has a perfectly balanced weight in the hand, ensuring that one can enjoy sake poured into this exquisite vessel without any feeling of heaviness. The body itself possesses a gentle roundness, which, combined with the thick potter’s wheel marks, gives the piece a presence that is at once mild and powerful. (While there is almost no visible soiling or signs of use, please note that this is an earlier work.) Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Rim 3.6cm x Body diameter 9.3cm x Body diameter 9.3cm x Height 14.1cm Capacity: approx. 450cc Kosuke Kaneshige is the third son of Living National Treasure Toyo Kaneshige. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1968 and completed his graduate studies in sculpture at the same university in 1970. He began exhibiting his ceramic works in 1975, and after serving as a lecturer in the School of Letters and Sciences at Tokai University, he returned home in 1977. He built his own climbing kiln in 1982. He produces various works, including sculptural objects, tea utensils, vases, tableware, and sake vessels. In 1991, he created the ceramic mural "Light and Wind" for the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Building in Okayama. He received the Japan Ceramic Society Award in 1994. In 1997, his work was exhibited at the Bizen Ware Paris Exhibition, and he has held solo exhibitions in various cities, including Tokyo and Osaka. In 2012, he was designated a Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property by Okayama Prefecture.