Shoji Hamada

Bottles, stoneware, salt glaze

Period

c.1960

Size

Length10×Width9.7×Height23.6cm／Length9.8×Width9.8×Height23.5cm

The grainy salt glaze is used to strengthen stoneware in various European countries, including Germany and France. It is said that Hamada was the first person in Japan to introduce the technique. The sinewy finish of the glaze and the free lines among the check patterns provide balance.

Shoji Hamada

1894－1978

Born in Takatsu Village (present day Kawasaki City), Kanagawa Prefecture. He studied ceramics at Tokyo Higher Technical School (now Tokyo Institute of Technology), where he met Kanjiro Kawai. In 1920, he went with Bernard Leach to Britain to built climbing kiln and make pottery. After returning to Japan, he promoted the Mingei Movement from his base in Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture.