A tall vessel with flaring form, the white clay dyed with indigo, a style harkening to traditional textiles by Fukushima Hiroko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Gosu-e Aomon Kaki.The artist titles the work as Gosu-e rather than Sometsuke. The coloring diverges from regular pottery glaze technique, with multiple layers of deep color; this is where the true value of Fukushima Gosu-e lies. Kodai Gosu, Yakinuki Gosu, and Black Gosu are layered over and over again and scraped off to create the style reminiscent of Kasuri textiles, an excellent vessel that harmonizes well with the Gosu-e. It is 18 cm (7-1/4 inches) diameter, 45 cm (18 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Fukushima Hiroko was born in Kanagawa prefecture and graduated the Joshi Bijutsu Daigaku Art College Western Painting Department in 1967.Her interest moved to ceramics in 1987, and after nearly a decade of practice and working in other kilns, she opened established her own kiln in 1996.That year her work was awarded at the Kanagawa Prefectural Art Exhibition.The following year would find her work accepted into the National Traditional Crafts Exhibition (Nihon Dento Kogei-ten) and again awarded at the Kanagawa Prefectural Art Exhibition. In 1999 she would be for the first time accepted into and subsequently awarded at the Asahi Togeiten Ceramics Exhibition.In both 2000 and 2002 she would garner prizes at the Seto Sometsuke Public Exhibition specializing in Blue and White ceramics, showing the respect her work had already gained among her peers.In 2007 her work was prized at the Nihon Shinsaku Kogei ten, and in 2010 was presented for public viewing at the MOA Museum of Art in Shizuoka. In 2013 she would begin exhibiting with the Tobi-ten of the Nihon Togei Biutsu Kyokai. Her work was purchased by the Imperial Household Agency in 2020. Following the death of her husband, and no longer able to carry the heavy pieces she had made alone, she retired from the ceramic world in 2023.
