Ibe Tokkuri

This is an Ibe tokkuri (sake bottle) by the master craftsman Mitsuru Isezaki, who loved Bizen ware and made immense contributions to the Bizen region. A pottery biography from around 2003 is enclosed, suggesting the piece was created around that time. It is a tokkuri in the "akoda-gata" style, modeled after an akoda melon with vertical ridges that create a silhouette resembling a plum blossom when viewed from above. It is a masterpiece that captures the profundity and tranquil elegance characteristic of Bizen, while the kiln-altered colors (yohen) glow with the brilliance of the earth and fire. While the clay may appear unassuming at first glance, a closer look reveals that it shifts into a spectrum of colors depending on the intensity of the flames, and the aurora-like metallic sheen becomes increasingly captivating the more you observe it. The orthodox and well-balanced form is classic of Isezaki’s style, reflecting the composure of a seasoned veteran. Signed wooden box (shiho-san style)
Rim 3.9cm x Body diameter 8.4cm x Body diameter 8.3cm x Height 12.7cm, Capacity 330cc Mitsuru Isezaki was born in 1934 as the eldest son of the Intangible Cultural Property holder Yozan Isezaki. He learned pottery techniques from his father from a young age and later majored in sculpture in the Special Arts Course at Okayama University. As an authentic practitioner of tea ceramics, he pursued the aesthetics, clay quality, and firing techniques of the Momoyama period. He distinguished between the use of climbing kilns and medieval-style anagama kilns depending on the piece, and famously avoided 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 Award in 1974. In 1994, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Merit Award, and in 1998, the 15th Tanabe Art Museum Grand Prize. In March of the 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 Award, Okayama Prefecture Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Arts and Culture Merit Award, and the Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Form Exhibition, among others / Guest exhibitor at Prefectural Exhibitions.