Bizen ware plate

This is a new Bizen plate by Takashi Soga, who challenges the beauty of antiquity by recreating the same environment in which Old Bizen was fired. To replicate the style of the Old Bizen era, he avoids the use of firebricks and other modern materials, firing the work in a kiln that defies all modern conventions of thermal efficiency. Consequently, the piece achieves an exquisite quality of clay that transcends contemporary aesthetics and approaches that of Old Bizen. Reminiscent of an Old Bizen small plate, this work is characterized by a rich landscape created by the reaction between the iron content in the clay, the ash (goma), and the straw. The brownish kiln-transformation (yohen) that covers the entire vessel is not only refined in its austerity, but also acts like a natural glaze. Despite being a plate, the work is exceptionally well-fired throughout, with bubbling (buku) that further polishes its rugged, Old Bizen-like presence.

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Diameter 19.1cm x Diameter 18.6cm x Height 4.5cm 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 pottery career in 2013.