Large Deep Ceramic Dish by Nonaka Taku, Pine Tree Decoration, Tenmoku Glaze, 2011

Large deep ceramic dish by Nonaka Taku from around 2011, with pine tree decoration on a powerful temmoku glaze. Signed under the base, it comes with its signed tomobako. This large composition, both sculptural and functional, powerfully illustrates the artist's work on the contrasts between deep black, silvery grey, and radiating design.

Description

This large deep dish is distinguished first by its scale and the breadth of its widely open form, whose continuous profile gives the piece an architectural presence. The interior surface is enlivened by a temmoku glaze with nuanced effects, ranging from dense black to metallic grey passages, with variations in mattness and brilliance that give the decoration true visual depth.

The pine tree motif, stylized, is organized into large radiating forms that stand out vigorously against the dark background. The decoration is anything but anecdotal: it structures the space of the dish and dialogues with the very material of the glaze. The ensemble produces a very constructed, almost graphic impression, but retains the sensitive richness characteristic of great firing ceramics, where the surface remains alive, changing according to the light.

Dated 2011, this work belongs to a fully mature period in Nonaka Taku's career. It is part of his work on large formats in temmoku, where the monumentality of the form meets a sober, powerful, and immediately legible decorative vocabulary. The fact that the dish is signed under the base and kept with its signed tomobako further reinforces the documentary interest of the ensemble.

Biography of Nonaka Taku

Nonaka Taku, 野中拓, was born in 1955 in Ureshino, Saga Prefecture, a major region for Japanese ceramics. In 1975, he apprenticed with Ono Hakuko and Ono Shōji. From the late 1970s, his career rapidly established itself in the field of contemporary Japanese kōgei.

In 1978, he was admitted to the exhibition of the western branch of the Japan Craft Arts Association. In 1979, he was selected for the first time for the Nihon Dentō Kōgei-ten, the Japanese Exhibition of Traditional Arts. He then received several awards in Saga exhibitions as well as in Kyūshū-Yamaguchi exhibitions. In 1982, he became a regular member of the Nihon Kōgeikai.

In 1983, a long-necked white porcelain work was acquired by the Saga Prefectural Museum. In 1998, a work titled Tenmoku fukabachi was selected for the 44th Japanese Exhibition of Traditional Arts and purchased by the Imperial Household Agency. In 1999, he traveled to Great Britain for a presentation at the British Museum. His career then continued with new selections for major Japanese exhibitions. In 2011, a temmoku pine tree decorated work was offered to Chion-in, which particularly highlights the place of this motif in his work.

Nonaka Taku's work develops around two main registers. On one side, white porcelain, sober and taut. On the other, temmoku, denser, darker, more dramatic in its surface effects. This large deep dish clearly belongs to this second aspect of his production. It shows his mastery of large forms, his taste for powerful contrasts, and his ability to make decoration a structural element of the work.

Dimensions

56.5 × 15.5 cm