Bizen Sakazuki

Shuroku Harada was studying old Bizen ware.
He was a student of ceramics researcher Matasaburo Katsura.
The knowledge he gained forms the basis of his pottery style.
He has not fired a kiln in recent years.
Judging by the condition of the wooden box and the enclosed resume, I presume that this piece was made around 1993.
The upper part features a worm-eaten design with the edges scraped off.
While this sakazuki is styled like a bajohai (horseback sake cup), it feels to me like an ancient ritual object.
The artist's mark is not engraved, but rather brush-painted using straw ash dissolved in water.
Upon firing, the artist's mark appears on the work like an iron painting.

He was born in Okayama Prefecture in 1941.
He became a potter in 1969.
He became a disciple of Matasaburo Katsura in 1975 and studied Old Bizen.