Koinuma Michio 肥沼美智雄, unglazed ceramic water basin

Japan, late 20th or early 21st century

Unglazed ceramic water basin by Koinuma Michio, low and wide-open in shape, built on a softened triangular outline with rounded corners. The rim is thick, punctuated by several projections, which reinforces the constructed and almost architectural character of the piece. The surface has a dark, black-brown skin, animated by metallic nuances, rubs, and deliberately irregular wear zones, giving the whole the appearance of an ancient object exhumed from the ground. The original box is preserved.

This work is very representative of Koinuma Michio's research into archaic forms and the archaeological memory of ceramics. Japanese sources, such as major specialized galleries, emphasize his interest in ancient Chinese bronzes, haniwa, and more broadly, forms derived from an imagined excavation. The Mashiko Museum describes his works as robust forms reminiscent of ancient bronzes, with a dark skin comparable to old metal, while Dai Ichi Arts emphasizes surfaces evoking weathered stone or corroded metal. This reference to an archaeological past is essential for understanding this basin.

Born in Tokyo in 1936, Koinuma Michio settled in Mashiko in 1969 and opened his kiln there in 1970. He worked mainly by modeling, without relying on the potter's wheel, which explains the very free strength of his volumes. The Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art dedicated an exhibition to him in 2022, Koinuma Michio and His Age. The artist died in August 2020 at the age of 84.

Koinuma Michio's institutional recognition is well established. Art Platform Japan documents several works preserved at the Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, notably pieces dated 1974, 1975, 1981, and 1989. His presence is also strongly relayed by Dai Ichi Arts, which included him in 2025 in the New York exhibition Mavericks: Three Masters of Japanese Ceramics, alongside Kawamoto Goro and Tsuboshima Dohei.

The piece is entirely consistent with the most characteristic part of his work, by its compact form, archaic contour, and surface with the appearance of ancient metal. It can be interpreted as a water basin, for floral use or in a tea context, but also as an autonomous sculptural work, as its volume and skin are sufficient to give it its own presence.

Dimensions: height 11.6 cm; width 35 cm; depth 33 cm.