Ibe Black Guinomi

This is a Bizen black sake cup by Kenji Takenaka, an artist who transitioned from jewelry design to pottery and studied under Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki. The form features a "surface-joining" technique rather than chamfering, creating an impressive structure where facets interlock like a stone wall. While it is an Ibe-te piece created using black slip, Takenaka has uniquely adjusted the composition to give the work the appearance of weathered, faded black. The edges of the stone-wall-like facets reveal the underlying clay as if worn away, and paired with a black surface where the luster has completely faded, it possesses a refined, weathered quality as if centuries have passed. Within the Isezaki school, where many students and apprentices are active, this is a new style of black only possible because Takenaka was one of the individuals who developed the black slip alongside his mentor, Jun Isezaki. Signed wooden box (shiho-san)
Diameter 6.7cm × Diameter 6.7cm × Height 6.7cm Kenji Takenaka is an artist who was captivated by the material of clay and transitioned from a career as a jewelry designer. After completing his studies at the Bizen Pottery Center in 1986, he served as an instructor there for two years. He began studying under Jun Isezaki in 1988 and became independent in 1994. He creates traditional items such as tea ceramics, sake vessels, tableware, and flower vases, as well as more innovative works. Through oxidation and reduction firing in an anagama kiln, he showcases a diverse range of expressions through variations in red, white, and black colors and the texture of the clay. He has received awards such as the Okayama Mayor's Award and the Prefectural Exhibition Award, as well as the Sanyo Shimbun Award at the Japan Traditional Kogei Branch Exhibition, and has been selected for numerous other exhibitions. He has held solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Okayama, Kurashiki, and elsewhere.