Bizen square plate

This is a square Bizen ware dish by Mitsuru Isezaki, a master craftsman who loved Bizen pottery and contributed greatly to the region. Three "botamochi" (rice cake) marks of varying sizes are accented by a fine, spray-like dusting of "goma" (ash glaze), creating a profound and mysterious landscape. The deep "shiso" (perilla) colored clay, a hallmark of Bizen, is layered with a black gradation from the misty goma, resulting in a complex and layered aesthetic. While this square dish is a very practical size for everyday use, it can also be enjoyed as a work of art, a painting woven by earth and fire. Signed wooden box (double-slatted lid)
21.3cm x 21.1cm x 2.1cm (height) Born in 1934 as the eldest son of Intangible Cultural Property holder Yozan Isezaki, Mitsuru Isezaki learned pottery techniques from his father at a young age and majored in sculpture at the Okayama University Special Art Course. As an authentic tea ceramic artist, he pursued the forms, clay textures, and firing methods of the Momoyama period. Depending on the piece, he chose between climbing kilns and medieval-style anagama kilns, insisting on firing with pine wood and never using electric or gas kilns. He became a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1964 and received the Toyo Kaneshige Award in 1974. In 1994, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Merit Award, and in 1998, the 15th Tanabe Museum of Art Grand Prize. In March of that same year, he was designated as a Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property holder. He passed away in August 2011 at the age of 77.
Awards: Toyo Kaneshige Award, Okayama Prefecture Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Merit Award, Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Form Exhibition, and many others / Invited contributor to the Prefectural Art Exhibition