Bizen Chawan

This Bizen ware tea bowl is the work of Mitsuru Isezaki, a master craftsman who loved Bizen ware and made significant contributions to the Bizen region. While many of Master Mitsuru's tea bowls are known for their gentle aesthetics centered on the texture of the clay, this piece, crafted in his relatively younger years, displays an intense firing in pursuit of a dramatic appearance. On the front, the bowl caught the full force of the heat during firing, causing a dense accumulation of 'goma' (ash glaze), with the glaze in the center bubbling and curdling into charred goma. The interior also features a generous coating of fallen ash; yet, true to Master Mitsuru's characteristic thoughtfulness even in his youth, he placed straw under a 'botamochi' (mochi-like) clay patch to protect the tea pool. The 'hidasuki' (fire-cord) markings created through this technique form a silhouette resembling a large spider, which, combined with the surrounding yellow goma, results in a truly whimsical aesthetic. Signed wooden box (shihōzan style)
Diameter 12.7cm × Diameter 12.7cm × Height 7.5cm Master Mitsuru Isezaki was born in 1934 as the eldest son of the Intangible Cultural Property holder Yōzan Isezaki. He learned pottery techniques from his father from a young age and majored in sculpture at the Okayama University Special Art Course. A master of traditional tea ceramics, he pursued Momoyama-style forms, clay textures, and firing techniques. He selectively used climbing kilns and medieval anagama kilns depending on the piece, strictly avoiding electric or gas kilns in favor of firing with pine wood. He became a full member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1964 and received the Kaneshige Tōyō Prize in 1974. In 1994, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Merit Award, and in 1998, the 15th Tanabe Museum of Art 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: Kaneshige Tōyō Prize, Okayama Prefectural Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Arts and Culture Merit Award, Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Forms Exhibition, and many others / Invited contributor to the Prefectural Exhibition