Thick snow-white glaze dribbles down the oxidized red of this torn form by Shino legend Hayashi Shotaro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. This is a perfect example of the daring route this artist took, propelling the popularity of Shino wares to new heights and inspiring many followers. It is 20 cm (8 inches) tall, slightly larger in diameter, and is in excellent condition.
Hayashi Shotaro (b. 1947) is one of the biggest names in contemporary Mino ceramics...

A Japanese globular-shaped Satsuma vase with millefiori motifs on the entire surface decorated in gold and polychrome enamels in relief. Signed Chozan under the base. Meiji period late 19th century Sizes: 21 x 27 x 27 cm. Condition report: Good condition

Japanese Satsuma vase of a cylindrical-hexagonal shape finely painted with polychrome enamels and gilt, depicting floral motifs and a pair of pheasants under a flowering tree. Upper lobed volutes with chrysanthemums and geometric motifs. Signed under the base. Meiji period late 19th century Sizes: 20 x 8 x 8 cm. Condition report: Good condition

A very unusual swirling celadon vase with vibrantly colored floral belt by Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kozan signed on the base in a chattered circle Makuzu Kozan Sei. It is 22.5 cm (9 inches) diameter, 30 cm (12 inches) tall and in overall excellent condition, with two miniscule glaze chips (see close-up photo)...

A fabulous large Mizusashi with a rugged, natural shape covered in cool blue and gray by Hagi icon Kaneta Masanao enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hagi Hai-Kaburi Kurinuki Mizusashi. It is roughly 18.5 cm (7-1/4 inches) tall, 26.5 cm (10-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition, complete with the artists shiori and shifuku.
Kaneta Masanao likely needs no introduction, certainly one of Hagi’s most well-known and easily identifiable names...

Satzuma earthenware dish by Kinkozan. Kinkozan kiln,satzuma fine earthenware dish, decorated in a reserve in the shape of a butterfly on a typical deep blue background decorated with gold scrolls and kiku Mon. Gold mark on the back. The main decoration represents a rooster and a hen near a fountain on the bank of river in a flower garden mainly with peonies. A cherry tree in blossom and a wisteria shade the scene...

Gold nuggets gleam on the deep lavender and black surface of this organic form by Inayoshi Osamu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kurinuki Kinsai Mizusashi. Kinsai is literally gold color, and here the artist has embedded gold into the surface, allowing it to expand and bubble out in the heat of the firing process. The effect of this on the dark matt surface is both striking and original...

The fortuitous accident, something has collapsed against the shoulder of this vessel causing it to crumple in on one side, the pale gathering about the fused raw earth and cascading like a waterfall down over the dark glaze. Such calamities within the kiln, which create the unexpected, are not looked upon as failures, but celebrated as serendipitous events. Here the bottle has been challenged and comes out intact, if not scarred from the experience, much like we in our own lives...

An unusual Fresh Water Jar for use in the Japanese Tea Ceremony by Koie Ryoji dated 1989 and enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Mizusashi. The form tips a hat to tradition, but is undoubtedly from this innovative artist. It comes with the original custom made lacquered wooden lid inlayed with a ceramic handle stamped Ko. The jar is 16 cm (6-1/4 inches) diameter, 17.5 cm (7 inches) tall and in excellent condition...

Two small porcelain dishes designed by Tanomura Chokunyu and created by Tominaga Genroku dating from the Meiji period. The landscape is signed Chokunyu in the blank of the lake, while underneath in a square cartouche is the mark of Genroku. Typically called Memezara in Japan, they are 12 cm (5 inches) diameter, perfect for zensai hors-d'œuvre or small treats to accompany a meal...

A fabulous design of inlayed and colored lines by Mukoyama Fumiya enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Zogan Yusai Kyokusen-mon Mizusashi (Color Inlayed Curved-Line Pattern Water Jar). It is 17.5 cm (7 inches) diameter, 20 cm (8 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Mukoyama Fumiya was born in Tokyo in 1960, graduating the Kyoto Ceramic Research institute before apprenticing in Hagi under 15th generation Sakakura Shinbei in 1984...

A set of Kyoyaki Tokkuri with iron decoration on heavily crackled pale glaze, one bearing a young pine bough brushed by Maruyama Oshin, the other a verse dedicated to the pine by an unidentified poet. Although most of the script is illegible to me, it begins Kadonomatsu (Pine by the gate) and appears to be signed Jukei (Chukei). They are 17 cm (6-3/4 inches) tall and in excellent condition...

An Arita dish made for Export to the West decorated with a central motif of a Vase of baluster tripod-footed form with an arrangement of Hydrangea set upon a Verandah beneath a Cherry Tree. The cavetto decorated with three cloud shaped reserves set against a a blue brocade ground of stylised Peonies creating three "hour glass" form divisions. Each reserve containing three different seasonal floral arrangements, Chrysanthemums (Autumn), Peonies (Spring) and Hydrangea (Summer)...

An exemplary form accentuating the beauty of the Shigaraki clay and drama which plays out within the kiln by Furutani Michio enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Mizusashi...

A Ko Imari moulded dish from the Nangawara valley in Arita fired at the Higuchi kiln. The dish is of unusual form with a rim of partially scalloped and barbed form with low relief decoration of Hyotan gourd vines on a bamboo trellis to the cavavetto. An auspicious motif associated with drinking as the dried gourds were used as sake tokkuri. The central low relief roundel is decorated in underglaze blue with the Chinese Tang monks Kenzan and Jittoku. The rim decorated with auspicious go-benka wit...

A Ko Imari moulded dish from the Nangawara valley in Arita fired at the Higuchi kiln. The dish is of unusual form with a rim of partially scalloped and barbed form with low relief decoration of Hyotan gourd vines on a bamboo trellis to the cavavetto. An auspicious motif associated with drinking as the dried gourds were used as sake tokkuri. The central low relief roundel is decorated in underglaze blue with the Chinese Tang monks Kenzan and Jittoku. The rim decorated with auspicious go-benka w...

A superb example of this traditional shape by Living National Treasure Isezaki Jun enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Bizen Mizusashi. Glaze seems to be worn and deteriorated from centuries of use on the dark earthen surface. It is 18.5 cm (7-1/2 inches) Diameter, 19 cm (7-5/8 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Isezaki Jun was born the second son to the prominent Bizen family of Isezaki Yozan. With his older brother Mitsuru he studied the plastic arts under the fierce...

A Japanese pair of miniature sake bowls decorated on the outside with floral motifs and with polychrome and gold chrysanthemums, On the interior daily life scenes and children playing. Kinkozan gold signature under the base. Meiji period late 19th century Sizes: 7 x 3 x 3 cm. Condition report: Good condition