Sawa Katsunori’s Shigaraki tsubo with handle

Description

Sawa Katsunori’s Shigaraki tsubo with handle combines the archaic power of wood firing with the formal language of tea ceramics. The coarse-grained clay gives the vessel an immediate presence, while its deliberately distorted form creates a tense balance between energy and calm — a striking expression of wabi-sabi.

Made from feldspar-rich Shigaraki clay, the vessel is deliberately distorted, torn, and fitted with a wedge-shaped handle after being formed. The reference to the traditional water bucket (teoke mizusashi, 手桶水指) connects the work to the aesthetics of the tea ceremony, lending it both functional and cultural depth.

Fired for around four days in an anagama kiln, the originally pale clay takes on reddish tones. Natural ash deposits create lively surfaces with characteristic glass-like beads (bidoro, ビードロ). At the base, these effects intensify into a concentrated turquoise-blue ash glaze.

A ceramic object with a strong, almost destructive wabi-sabi presence, which at the same time provides space for a striking ikebana arrangement.

SAWA KATSUNORI

Sawa Katsunori, who comes from a pottery family in Shigaraki and studied under Suzuki Goro, combines deep technical knowledge with his own experimentation and influences from the Oribe tradition.
His unglazed yakishime ceramics made from local Shigaraki clay, fired in an anagama kiln, reveal the powerful traces of fire and embody the wabi-sabi aesthetic of transience and imperfection in their form.