† HAMADA SHOJI (LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE) (ATTR.): A FINE IRON-GLAZED STONEWARE BOTTLE VASE

拍品描述

† HAMADA SHOJI (LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE) (ATTR.): A FINE IRON-GLAZED STONEWARE BOTTLE VASE Attributed to Hamada Shoji (1894-1978), unsigned Japan, mid-20th century, Showa period (1926-1989) Beautifully crafted, the cylindrical body with subtly incurved sides, the lower portion gently narrowing toward a short, flared foot, and rising to a slightly tapered neck with a thick-lipped rim. The exterior coated overall with a transparent slip, revealing the underlying buff-colored ceramic, and decorated in varying shades of an iron-toned glaze, including a pair of lively bamboo-leaf motifs, that darkens toward the rim and flows into the interior, which is glazed in characteristic brownish hues with beautiful purple-blue accents. HEIGHT 13.4 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. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related stoneware bottle vase decorated with a bamboo-grass motif, by Hamada Shoji, Showa period, c. early 1950s, 18.4 cm high, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese and Korean Art, New York, 17 September 2025, lot 614 (sold for USD 1,408 or approx. EUR 1,200 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.

图片