Kuroshuten

This new black sake cup is the work of Koichiro Isezaki, who was born as the eldest son of Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki and has breathed new life into the world of Bizen ware with his exceptional sense and masterful sculptural skills. While leveraging the qualities of Bizen clay, he successfully incorporates essences from his roots in wood carving to create a unique piece that is instantly recognizable as his own. For this work, he shaped the interior by scraping away the clay with a spatula, achieving a beautiful, spherical silhouette impossible to create on a potter's wheel, while the wrinkles in the clay left by the scraping process serve as an accent. The piece features the deep, lustrous, and smooth black finish that is synonymous with the Isezaki family, and the *goma* (ash glaze) flow at the rim resembles flames flickering downwards. A white clay cube is embedded into the surface, shifting in color between cobalt blue and black depending on its placement. Signed wooden box to follow (please allow some time for delivery).
Diameter 7.6cm × Diameter 7.6cm × Height 6.2cm Koichiro Isezaki was born as the eldest son of Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki. The Isezaki family is a prestigious line of Bizen potters; his grandfather was the holder of an intangible cultural property, Yozan Isezaki, and his uncle was also a holder of an intangible cultural property, Mitsuru Isezaki. Koichiro aspired to become a ceramic artist from an early age. After graduating from the Department of Sculpture at Tokyo Zokei University in 1994, he studied abroad in the United States. He trained under New York City-based ceramic artist Jeff Shapiro for approximately two years, significantly broadening his perspectives on art and ceramics. Since returning to Japan in 2000, he has worked and trained under the guidance of his father alongside his father's apprentices. He first submitted his work to the Tanabe Museum of Art’s Tea Ceremony Exhibition in 2002, where it was selected for the first time.