Gold and Platinum Decorated Sake Bottle "Salamander"

This is the latest "Salamander" sake bottle, fresh from the kiln by Toru Ichikawa, who made a brilliant debut after studying under Ryuichi Kakurezaki. It is a highly original and exceptional piece, characteristic of Ichikawa-sensei, whose boundless ideas take form through the supreme medium of clay. The "Salamander" series is his latest evolution, advancing the intense, bubbling kairagi glaze texture expressed in his "Kagutsuchi" series by rearranging gold leaf, platinum leaf, and crimson glaze into a tiled pattern. Shifting the theme from the Japanese fire deity "Kagutsuchi" to the elemental fire spirit "Salamander," this series is even more vivid and daring. In contrast to the magma-like, boiling gold of the Kagutsuchi series, this work features crimson glaze as its centerpiece, with intertwining gold, platinum, and red creating a painterly, atmospheric world. One is struck by the meticulous attention to detail in the way random fine grains within the bubbling gold glaze have been converted to platinum. The piece is carved with a palette knife used like a sword, resulting in a sharp, hexagonal form so beautiful that simply gazing at it is intoxicating. Signed wooden box to follow (please allow some time for delivery).
Rim 3.5cm x Body Diameter 8.6cm x Body Diameter 8.2cm x Height 16.1cm Capacity 150cc Toru Ichikawa was born in Tokyo. He began his apprenticeship under Ryuichi Kakurezaki in June 2011 and established his own studio in Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, in January 2015.