Description

This Japanese stoneware vase has a very flattened, lenticular shape, almost like a pebble, constricted around a small opening. The mass is intentionally asymmetrical, and the outline is not round but slightly triangular, which enhances its sculptural presence. A spiral line organizes the surface into successive layers, like ripples of water swirling around the neck, creating a stylized flower. The glaze is matte and transparent, light gray, over a slightly brown clay that warms the overall effect and gives it a rosy hue, with a fine granulation visible across the entire surface.

The work is signed underneath and kept in its original tomobako , which is also signed .

Artist

Imai Yasuhito is a Japanese ceramicist born in 1937 (Shōwa 12), originally from Shigaraki (Shiga Prefecture). He trained in Kyoto under Kawai Zuihō (河合瑞豊) from 1957, before establishing his own studio in 1961. From the mid-1960s, he was regularly selected for public exhibitions in Japan. In 1973, he settled in Iga and focused his work on ceramics that engage with the spirit of tea and the memory of Ko-Iga , while developing a personal style in which form and surface take on a fully sculptural dimension.

Dimensions

Height: 22 cm. 37 × 32 cm.