Kanjiro Kawai

Vase, porcelain, copper red with celadon glaze

Period

c.1924

Size

Length11.6×Width11.6×Height21.3cm

A spot of red color adds a special feature to the blue, water-like color. This is one of Kawai’s earlier works, made while he was researching old Chinese and Korean pottery. The beauty of the glaze is exceptional and its shape is thought to imitate the porcelain of the Chinese Song dynasty.

Kanjiro Kawai

1890－1966

Born in Yasugi Town (present day Yasugi City), Shimane Prefecture. He studied ceramics at Tokyo Higher Technical School (now Tokyo Institute of Technology), where he met Shoji Hamada. Along with Soetsu Yanagi and others, he was active in the Mingei Movement. He made ceramics from his base in Gojozaka in Kyoto and from the postwar period bold artworks inspired by his interest in primitive arts sculpture.