Large vase made by Osamu Ando at the Chizan kiln. The light-coloured clay body is completely covered with a brown slip, which the artist then incised to reveal a network of geometric motifs: stars, spirals and linear bands. The contrast between the dark ground and the pale clay creates a graphic vitality that accentuates the vessel’s ample rounded form and recalls the traditional Mishima technique, reinterpreted in a contemporary idiom.

Osamu Ando, born in Hokkaidō in 1937, studied ceramics at Tokyo University of the Arts before training under potters in Mashiko. In the 1960s he established his own Chizan kiln in Sapporo, where he developed a body of work combining traditional craftsmanship with a modern language. The recipient of numerous awards at national exhibitions, including the Nitten and the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition, he is recognised for his exploration of texture, linear rhythm and the balance between surface and volume. His works are held in several public collections, including the Hokkaidō Museum of Modern Art and the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art.

Height: 34 cm; diameter: 22.5 cm.