

Japanese Contemporary Sake Cup | Guinomi
Shigaraki Guinomi Cup with Saucer | Japanese Earthenware Pottery by Shiro Tsujimura
Age:1990
Descriptive qualities& condition:
Dimensions: Guinomi - 1-3/8”h x 2-1/2”dia. — Saucer - 1/2”h x 5-1/4”l x 3-3/4”w
This beautiful guinomi, (sake cup) and saucer was made by potterer, Shiro Tsujimura who is known as a fundamental artist whose work illustrates a beautifully natural feel with a rough texture and soft sheen that invites touching. Guinomi is often called miniature chawan, and they are seen as microcosmic as tea bowls, (evoke a wonderful feeling of harmony, the five senses are magnified as you hold a bowl in your palms, with each acting as their own microcosmos). A cup reveals its true charm and character once used and usually ages better than the drinker; a spirit vessel of kindred spirit that epitome of Japanese ceramics.
This spirally ridged and footed sake cup and saucer epitomizes the Japanese aesthetic of "wabi-sabi" with its irregular form, glazing, and rustic appearance with a gritty look of “Koke-Hada”, (mossy skin). From the combination of the potters' hands and the clay itself, lovers of the art sense, see, and feel the clay; from the motion and actions of the potter to the random and somewhat accidental build up of transparent glazes from multiple firings. The set is rugged, heavy, startlingly strong, and breathtakingly handsome. An impressed signature is on the bottom of the saucer.
Vintage Condition: Exceptional with no discoloration, chipping/cracking, surface wear or structural damage. “As is”, and retains the original craft/workmanship.
NOTE: Tsujimura Shiro (1947-) began his artistic career studying oil painting; however, he became disillusioned during this process and eventually abandoned the idea. Inspired by a classic Ido tea bowl from the Folk Museum in Japan, Tsujimura embarked on the journey of ceramic arts. He is known widely known as a master of pottery as his ceramic works reflect a level of sophistication and return to nature in the various clay bodies and glazes he used.
More than four million years ago Lake Biwa found its way to the Shigaraki area. The clay that piled up at the bottom of that lake throughout the years, along with the later forests of red pine, which has been used for kiln fuel, and has fostered the production of unique and unusual art from earth and fire.
Shigaraki and Iga are two medieval kiln centers that have much in common for producing “pitted bodies and natural ash glazes”. Yet, where Shigaraki has quite a few dozen potters and an internationally known museum for which both are known for the only thing that matters: magnificent pottery.
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