A quintessential tea bowl by the dramatic Koie Ryoji enclosed in the original singed wooden box titled Shidara-de Chawan. The dark red clay is studded with inclusions, left raw in places, covered in milky white and Tokoname dark green in others. It is 13 x 12 x 8 cm (roughly 5 inches diameter, 3 inches tall) and is in perfect condition.
Koie Ryoji (1938-2020)) was born in Tokoname and graduated the Tokoname industrial school before moving on to work at a tile factory in 1957, where he would lose two fingers in an industrial accident. Faced with this handicap, he entered the City Ceramics Research Facility in 1962 where he furthered his studies and his unique style began to coagulate. In 1966 he established his own studio. By the early 70s his work was garnering attention overseas and he has since been largely displayed and prized culminating in a lifetime with the Japan Ceramic Society Gold Award in 2008, the most prestigious of pottery prizes in Japan. Work by him is held in the collections of the National Museums of Modern Art in both Tokyo and Kyoto, Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Idemitsu Museum, The Museum of Fine Art in Gifu, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Seoul Museum of Art in Korea, Dayton Art Institute, San Antonio Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia among many other public and private collections.
