Stoneware vase with “nunome” bamboo decoration — Itō Motohiko (伊藤東彦, born in 1939)

This striking stoneware vase is distinguished by its masterful construction. Its form is structured by two distinct edges that organize the volume into a kind of domed lozenge, narrowing towards the opening. The neck remains intentionally narrow, with a slight indentation at the rim that breaks the regularity of the contour and emphasizes the sculptural dimension of the piece.

The surface is worked according to the principle of nunome (布目), a textile-like weave effect integrated into the clay's surface. Against this finely textured background, the design reads like a stylized bamboo grove: segmented vertical stalks, alternating between off-white, warm brown, and gray, establish a different rhythm on each side. A delicate horizon line, highlighted in gold , structures the space and separates the chromatic fields.

Itō Motohiko (伊藤東彦, born in 1939) is among the important Japanese ceramicists of the second half of the ^20th century, renowned for his surface work and sense of construction. Trained at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku), he later settled in Kasama, one of the major centers of modern Japanese ceramics, where he established his studio and kiln around 1970. A member of the Japan Kōgeikai (日本工芸会), he regularly participates in the Nihon Dentō Kōgeiten (日本伝統工芸展) and receives notable awards, including the Asahi Shimbun Prize in 1984.

The piece is signed by stamp under the base and preserved with its original signed tomobako .

Dimensions : height 42 cm; width 26 cm; depth 14 cm.