Guinomi

Togaku Mori achieved one of the great feats in the history of ceramics by successfully firing an enormous kiln measuring 85 meters in length. This is an earlier Guinomi by the artist.

Created around the middle period of Mori’s career, the work is accompanied by an artist biography listing his achievements through 1993.

It was made after Mori had completed his firings in the Aioi Great Kiln and relocated to Sabukaze. Beautiful Tobi-Goma markings appear across the clean white clay characteristic of Sabukaze.

The distinctive gradation of the Sabukaze kiln, shifting from scarlet to deep brown, is also clearly visible. The gradual transformation of the white Sabukaze clay resembles fruit slowly taking on color and remains endlessly captivating to observe.

By this period, Mori had begun moving away from wheel throwing and toward forming his works with plaster molds. This piece was also constructed by joining three separate sections to create its hexagonal rim.

Unlike wheel-thrown vessels, it is difficult to perceive the maker’s rhythm or breathing through traces of the potter’s wheel, giving the work a somewhat impersonal and almost inorganic atmosphere.

Yet this very quality harmonizes beautifully with the white Sabukaze clay. The result is a refined design that feels both primal and remarkably timeless.

Although this is an earlier work offered on the secondary market, it shows no staining, wear, or signs of use.

Togaku Mori was born in 1937 in Imbe, Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture, as the eldest son of Shuji Mori, whose family lineage was rooted in one of the six traditional kiln families of Bizen ware.

After graduating from the Special Art Course at Okayama University in 1959, he worked as an art teacher at a junior high school. In 1962, however, he left teaching, returned to his family home, and began pursuing pottery in earnest.

The following year, in 1963, his work was accepted for the first time at the Japan Traditional Kogei Exhibition. In 1966, he became a full member of the Japan Kōgei Association.

In 1969, Mori held a three-person exhibition in Tokyo with Issei Esaki and Shoji Kamoda. A cylindrical earthenware vessel exhibited at the show was acquired by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. In the same year, he received the Japan Ceramic Society Award.

Fascinated by the overwhelming beauty of Ko-Bizen ware, Mori began constructing the 46-meter-long Aioi Great Kiln in Aioi City, Hyogo Prefecture, in 1972. His aim was to recreate the large medieval kilns that had produced Ko-Bizen ware.

He completed the Aioi Great Kiln in 1979 and began firing it the following year. The firing continued for approximately two months.

Building upon the experience and results gained from this firing, Mori moved to Sabukaze in Ushimado, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture. In 1983, he completed the 53-meter-long Sabukaze Great Kiln. He began firing it in December 1985 and opened the kiln for the first time in 1986.

He continued conducting experimental firings in the Sabukaze Great Kiln, pursuing both the beauty of Ko-Bizen ware and the mysteries of firing in an enormous kiln.

In 1996, he received the Sanyo Shimbun Award for Cultural Merit. In the same year, he was designated by Okayama Prefecture as a Holder of the Important Intangible Cultural Property “Techniques for the Production of Bizen Ware.”

In 1997, he exhibited his work at the Bizen Ware Exhibition in Paris. In 2002, he received the Gold Prize of the Japan Ceramic Society Award.

In 2008, Mori completed the Sabukaze New Great Kiln, which measured 85 meters in length, 6 meters in width, and 3 meters in height. He had spent many years preparing for its construction and continued making numerous modifications after its completion. In 2015, he finally accomplished an unprecedented firing of this enormous kiln.

Through a firing that continued for approximately three months, Mori revived the beauty of Ko-Bizen ware in the modern age. He also achieved a diverse range of kiln effects that could only be created in a kiln of such immense scale, accomplishing a remarkable feat that will remain in the history of ceramics.

Major awards and honors include the Japan Ceramic Society Award, the Sanyo Shimbun Award for Cultural Merit, the Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Award for Distinguished Service to Art and Culture, the Gold Prize of the Japan Ceramic Society Award, the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Commendation, the Medal with Purple Ribbon, the Fukutake Culture Award, and the Okayama Prefecture Miki Memorial Award. He has also served as a judge for the Okayama Prefectural Art Exhibition.