Tsubo-Jar / Ki-Seto / Mizunami / Hori Ichiro
Large Ki-Seto Jar-Vase by Hori Ichiro
Hori Ichiro's(b.1952) Ki-Seto (Ki is yellow) is not fired in a saggar like most Mino potters. This labor-intensive way follows in the tradition of his teacher Kato Kozo (recently named Living National Treasure for Black Seto) who studied with the first Mino Living National Treasure, the late great Arakawa Toyozo (Shino and Black Seto). Being of such impeccable pedigree and with a sense like those of ancient potters, Hori's Ki-Seto is alive and simply one of the best, if not the best, Ki-Seto in Japan today. We find rich yellow tones combined toasty scorch markings (koge) over most of his work that comes from ash deposits and the flow of the kiln's flame. Ki-Seto, along with Black Seto (Setoguro) are the two most difficult styles of Mino. Hori tells me of the many unsatisfactory works that are unloaded from his kiln; it must be very disappointing yet makes the success's all the more fulfilling. A few years ago Hori built a special anagama especially for his Ki-Seto. We offer some of Hori's Ki-Seto here in these exhibition pages. The first piece here is a large jar with a contemporary yet at the same time ancient form; the firing is varied and truly engaging on many levels. In perfect condition with a signed box, 31.5cm.tallx27.5.
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