Chawan / Ajiki Hiro
Reed-Boat Chawan by Ajiki Hiro
Osaka-born Ajiki Hiro (b.1948) is both extremely enigmatic and charismatic. He is the "Koie Ryoji" of tea bowls, with his chawan just bursting with the highly creative life energy of Eros, while still retaining a noble elegance that many potters can never muster. Some even consider Ajiki to be the greatest tea bowl maker in contemporary Japan, and that is quite a statement, considering that the competition consists of such legends as Raku Kichizaemon and Tsujimura Shiro. But one glance at Ajiki's chawan, and many will realize that he ranks comfortably with the aforementioned names, if not exceeding them at times. He works almost predominantly in tea wares, in particular tea bowls, and his creative power is like that of Bizen's Kakurezaki Ryuichi: in fact, the two artists are extremely good friends, and respect one another highly. Like minds attract, perhaps. This chawan is another creative tour de force. The reeds drawn on the white glaze of the chawan are lively and natural -legendary Edo potter Ogata Kenzan would be proud, and the contrast between the white and pink is pleasing. Notice the gold specks dotted along the mikomi well of the chawan, and also notice the glazed painting of a lonely fisherman in a wood boat. Another point of mention is the extremely unique kodai, with its tall foot with a deep well inside the foot itself, with a bodied lip at its base -extremely complex and skilled, but Ajiki forms it with a keen natural-ness. A glaze burst can be seen on the facade of the chawan, and a slight hole can be seen in the kodai foot, but these do not detract from the piece. It comes with a wonderfully painted box (by, of course, Ajiki), with the two motifs of the fisherman (back side of lid) and reeds (on the top of the lid), just like the chawan. This chawan is 7.5cm tall, 14.5cm wide, comes with a signed box and is in perfect condition. An Ajiki chawan was added into the permanent collection of the MET in NYC a few years ago.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
