A squat ash encrusted vessel by Tsujimura Kai enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Uzukumaru. The term Uzukumaru is a verb that literally means: to crouch down or squat, making oneself small. This beautiful example crouched under the tempest of flying ash and raging flame in the wood fired kiln coming out scarred and worn with a robe of ash, but intact, a beautiful example of the Momoyama aesthetic defined in modern terms. The red clay is covered in a black charr about the shoulder, ash-glaze cascading down the sides. It is 19 cm diameter, roughly the same height (just under 8 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Tsujimura Kai (b. 1976, Nara Prefecture) is a leading contemporary Japanese ceramic artist whose bold, wood-fired vessels draw upon the traditions of Shigaraki, Iga, Bizen, Karatsu, Shino, and Oribe ware. Trained from 1994 under his father, the celebrated potter Tsujimura Shiro, Kai established his own kiln and studio in Sakurai around 2000, forging an independent path defined by large, powerful jars and tea wares and is celebrated for incorporating wood-fired, natural-ash glazes that embrace unpredictability. Unlike many contemporaries who tightly control kiln conditions, Kai “delights in the unexpected,” allowing chance and natural variation to shape his finished pieces. His work reflects the dramatic, sensual spirit of the Momoyama era while embracing spontaneity and chance. Widely exhibited in Japan and abroad his ceramics are represented in major collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
