Bizen square plate

This is a Bizen square plate by the master craftsman Mitsuru Isezaki, a man who loved Bizen ware and made immense contributions to Bizen. It is a textbook example of a Bizen square plate, featuring a traditional *kadogiri* (cut-corner) form accented with *botamochi* (rice cake-like markings) and vivid *hidasuki* (fire-cord) markings. The finish of the edges is astonishingly meticulous; the sharp, crisp rims and the perfectly smooth back, free of any wrinkles, possess a precision as if they had been instantly cut by a machine. Yet, despite such exquisite craftsmanship, the piece does not feel cold, undoubtedly due to the soft, warm coloration inherent to earthen ware. Beyond the deep, rich colors of the *hidasuki*, the subtly tinged, cherry-blossom-colored clay on the back evokes a refined, almost fragrant elegance. Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Diameter 20.6cm × Diameter 20.3cm × Height 4.1cm Mitsuru Isezaki was born in 1934 as the eldest son of the Intangible Cultural Property holder Yozan Isezaki. He learned ceramic techniques from his father from a young age and majored in sculpture in the Special Art Course at Okayama University. As an authentic master of tea ceramics, he pursued the forms, clay textures, and firing methods of the Momoyama period. He alternated between climbing kilns and medieval-style anagama kilns depending on the piece, strictly avoiding electric or gas kilns in favor of firing with split pine wood. He became a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1964 and received the Toyo Kaneshige Prize in 1974. In 1994, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Achievement Award, and in 1998, he won 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: Recipient of numerous honors including the Toyo Kaneshige Prize, Okayama Prefecture Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Art and Culture Achievement Award, and the Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Form Exhibition; served as an invited artist for prefectural exhibitions.