† HAMADA SHOJI (LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE): A PRESS-MOLDED GLAZED STONEWARE SQUARE BOTTLE VASE

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† HAMADA SHOJI (LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE): A PRESS-MOLDED GLAZED STONEWARE SQUARE BOTTLE VASE By Hamada Shoji (1894-1978), signed and sealed to the tomobako Japan, mid-20th century, Showa period (1926-1989) Hand-pressed in a mold and carefully formed, the prismatic body rising to a gently curving neck terminating in a thickened rim. The exterior finely coated in an iron-brown glaze with warm earthen accents, thinning along the edges and interspersed with wax-resist areas to create abstract, organic foliate motifs on one face and diagonal striped patterns in the adjoining sides. The lustrous glaze stopping short above the foot to reveal the buff-colored ceramic beneath, while the recessed base is finished in a red clay–colored glaze. HEIGHT 19.8 cm Hamada Shoji (1894-1978) studied ceramics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, then known as Tokyo Industrial College, with Kawai Kanjiro under Itaya Hazan. As the sole students in the school interested in becoming artist-potters, Hamada and the slightly elder Kawai soon became friends, touring the city in search of inspiration. Anchored in the Japanese Mingei movement created under the leadership of Soetsu Yanagi between 1910 and 1920, Hamada focused on the beauty of everyday pieces by settling in the traditional pottery village of Mashiko. He used local stoneware, which he turned or molded into vessels with concave or convex, faceted or raised walls and decorated with a ladle or brush. Shoji Hamada's reputation crosses borders, notably in France and England, where he built the first multi-chambered recumbent kiln of Asian type in the West with his long-time friend Bernard Leach. But it was in his native country that he achieved the greatest recognition, being named a Living National Treasure before his death in 1978. With the original wood storage box (tomobako), signed and sealed by the artist. Museum comparison: Compare a related press-molded square bottle vase, by Hamada Shoji, Showa period, c. 1955-1960, 24.2 cm high, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), accession number M.85.271. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related press-molded bottle vase, by Hamada Shoji, Showa period, 20th century, 20.2 cm high, at Sotheby’s, Pursuit of an Ideal: Fine Japanese Works of Art, London, 5 November 2021, lot 153 (sold for GBP 2,520 or approx. EUR 3,600 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Compare a closely related press-molded bottle vase, by Hamada Shoji, Showa period, mid-20th century, 18.5 cm high, at Christie’s, Japanese and British 20th Century Studio Ceramics, London, 28 October 2014, lot 4 (sold for GBP 2,750 or approx. EUR 4,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.

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