SOMEWHERE TOKYO Ceramics

Contemporary dimpled platinum-gilded decorative porcelain vase, an exquisite piece crafted, hand painted and signed by a highly acclaimed porcelain artist of Japan’s Imari-Arita regi...

Large, Chinese Longquan style celadon vase with a stunning lotus leaf pattern underglaze and Greek key detail on the perimeter of t...

Contemporary Japanese porcelain decorative vase hand painted in green, red and blue on a beautifully shaped body, a signed work by highly acclaimed Japanese master porcelain artist i...

Elegant gilded contemporary Japanese porcelain decorative vase hand painted in red, blue, purple and green on an elegant bottle shape body, a signed work by widely acclaimed Japanese...

Two modern Neolithic style Chinese ceramic pots. Sold separately. Large pot has a small hairline crack on the bottom that has been repaired. please...

Exquisite contemporary Japanese Ko-Imari style porcelain lidded temple jar/vase, intricately hand-painted in cobalt blue, iron red and green with generous application of gold on an e...

Exquisite Japanese contemporary decorative porcelain vase, hand painted in underglaze blue on a beautifully shaped body in pure white, a signed piece by widely acclaimed master porce...

A heavily potted stoneware vase in cylindrical form, decorated with abstract strokes in iron rust glaze (known as Persimmon Glaze in Japanese) on a black glazed background. The pattern suggests autumn grasses, and it was applied with free hands. The vase is attributed to Japanese potter Hamada Shoji...

Contemporary Japanese decorative porcelain vase, hand-painted in cobalt blue, yellow and green on a stunning ovoid shaped body, a signed piece by highly acclaimed master porcelain a...

A massive stoneware tsubo floor jar created by Japanese contemporary ceramic artist Kai Tsujimura (1976-). The heavy jar with its impressive volume was made in the tradition of Iga ware with local coarse sandy clay that turned reddish after the firing. It took its shape from heavy medieval storage jars with a wide-open mouth. For a nearly identical form, see an Echizen jar from Heian period (794–1185) in the collection of MET (Accession Number: 1977.261). The surface showcases scattered white crystalized feldspars and a green vitrified ash glaze cascade down the body (known as biidoro in Japanese - after the Portuguese word for glass vidoro). These is a globular shape impressed on the jar. It is a signature practice of the Tsujimura potter family by stacking bowls between the pieces in the kiln during the firing, resulting in an accidental but iconic aethetic (Kai and Yui Tsujimura...

A stunning pair of ceramic vases with gilt, paint and high-relief decoration by imperial artist Makuzu Kozan (1842-1916, also known as Miyagawa Kozan) circa 1876-81 (late Meiji period). These vases belong to early period (1876-1881) of Kozan's repertoire, during which time the high relief sculpturing (known as Takauki ware) was used as a distinguished technique on top of the traditional gilt and paint ornaments of satsuma ware. Due to the relatively limited production and the fragile nature of these wares, not a large quantity of the examples remained in the first place, not mentioning a fine matching signed pair in such impressive sizes. Not only a rarity, this pair of vases is also superb in workmanship, thus the fine example of the work from that short and unique period of the artist's career before he switched to the underglaze period. In a conceptually mirrored fashion, the surface is richly decorated with flying cranes among large lotus leaves and flower, like an idyllic aqua scenery of pure poetry on a circular scroll. The high-relief appliques were rendered and composed in realistic fashion but with a dramatic touch. They are literally about to break the surface free, alive and in motion. The dark colors of the glaze were used to set a moody tone. The approach to create this type of ornamentations is more akin to sculpturing an ink painting in three-dimension than ceramic making. It is not hard to imagine the demand of both the artistry and the technique. Both vases were signed as "Makuzu Kozan Kiln" and each further with another name and seal, which are most likely the individual artist involved in the making process. Similar signatures can be seen in the reference book below. For similarly Takauki vases, see Miyagawa Kozan Makuzu...

Contemporary Japanese decorative porcelain vase, hand painted in green and blue, in a round shape porcelain body in a stunning "karakusa" or "arabesque" pattern in green and blue, to...