Richard Milgrim (b. 1955), from White Plains, New York, graduated from Antioch College in 1979 after a year traveling in Japan and an internship at the Fogg Museum on Harvard Road. That same year, he began following a “way,” as it is called in Japan—Sado or Chanoyu, the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
He returned to Japan in 1979, apprenticing initially under Iwabuchi Shigeya while studying at the Midorikai of Urasenke. His first solo exhibition was held in 1981, the first of many. Over the following years, he traveled across Japan, studying under various masters, including Living National Treasure Fujiwara Yu, Kato Koemon, and Tahara Tobei, absorbing a wide range of styles.
In 1984, he established his own kiln in Hiyoshi, north of Kyoto. Milgrim is considered one of the few foreign potters to be fully accepted into the brand-conscious world of Japanese tea, with his exhibitions frequently selling out. From 2000 to 2014, he split his time between Hiyoshi and a kiln he established in Concord, Massachusetts, where he developed innovative techniques and glazes that remain a key part of his repertoire in Japan. He is highly skilled in Shino, Oribe, Bizen, Seto, Karatsu, and Yakishime styles.
According to Richard Milgrim:
“Since 1977, on my first arrival in Kyoto, I have been blessed with an unending flow of deai (encounters) that have been like stepping stones on the garden path, leading me into the innermost depths of the field of Chatou (tea ceramics). Undoubtedly the most significant deai was meeting Dr. Sen Genshitsu, the 15th generation Grand Master of the Urasenke Tea Tradition, in 1979. With his guidance and endorsement over the years—including the naming of my two studios, in Japan (RICHADO-GAMA) and in America (KONKO-GAMA)—Dr. Sen has been the primary catalyst in the development of my career over the past 40 years.”
