Important brown stoneware vase by Watanabe Nobuo 渡辺信雄, with a wide ovoid body, a slightly flattened base, and a small circular neck. The matte, speckled outer surface has a deep reddish-brown tone.

The stylized bird decoration is created using light inlay, or zōgan. Long curved lines descend from the neck and structure the entire body, while circular eyes enliven the upper frieze. The motif gives the piece a swirling movement and a strong graphic presence.

Watanabe Nobuo was born in 1949 in Niigata Prefecture. Trained under Kido Natsuo starting in 1968, he graduated from Ibaraki University in 1972 and then settled in the Kasama region of Ibaraki Prefecture, an important center for contemporary Japanese ceramics. His work is associated with inlay, or zōgan, a technique in which an incised design is filled with a light clay that contrasts with the background. In 1999, the Jōyō Geibun Gallery dedicated a solo exhibition to him titled "Flying Ceramics."

A spectacular piece, very typical of his work due to its inlaid decoration and graphic movement. Watanabe Nobuo's seal on the base. Without tomobako.

Height 26 cm; diameter 24 cm.