A ceramic bowl made by Unrinin Hozan of Kyoto containing an image of orchids in black with a verse in archaic script circling the rim in red by Tomioka Tessai enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kashibachi. It is 18 cm (7-1/4 inches) diameter, 8.5 cm (3-1/2 inches) tall and is in excellent condition.
For more than four centuries, the Unrinin Hozan lineage has been synonymous with the refined ceramic traditions of Kyoto. In 1555 Unrinin Yozo moved from the pottery production center of Shigaraki to Kamigamo in Kyoto and began producing ritual wares and has become celebrated as the first Hozan. The 7th generation moved the kiln to Higashiwakamiya-cho in Awata and established the Awata kiln in 1645. The 9th generation received the name “Hōzan” from the Risshu monk Tankai, founder of Hozan-ji in Ikoma, Yamato Province. The name thereafter became hereditary. This piece would have been made under the mantle of the 18th generation. The kiln is still going today under the 20th generation.
Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924) was a scholar artist trained from age seven in the traditional Confucian manner. After the death of his father he was apprenticed to a Shinto shrine, and later was forced to escape the capitol to Kyushu to avoid arrest for anti-governmental actions he had taken on part of the Imperial cause. Here he began serious study of Literati painting and furthered his scholarly research. Upon returning to Kyoto he was befriended by and moved to work under Otagaki Rengetsu, from whom he was heavily influenced. He helped to establish the Nihon Nanga-In and held a number of important positions, culminating in being appointed the official painter of the Emperor and a member of the Imperial Art Academy; the highest honor in Japanese Art circles. He is represented in innumerable important collections. Information on this important person is readily available, for more see Scholar Painters of Japan by Cahill (1972), Roberts Dictionary, or a quick internet search will find plenty of reading. He is held in the Tokyo National Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Kyoto, V&A etc
